In 1978, San Francisco was an anarchic place to be. A burgeoning punk rock scene was in the process of eviscerating the city's reputation as a hippie haven. Civil rights campaigns raged all over: the Black Panthers were over a decade into their struggle, LGBTQ folks were at war with Anita Bryant, and feminists were trying to "Take Back the Night" outside of North Beach's strip clubs. This most turbulent of years also culminated in the Jonestown Massacre and the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.
If there hadn't been so much going on, it's possible that one very strange turn of events might have stayed in the public consciousness for a bit longer. Because yes, it's almost as bonkers as everything else that happened that year.
In July 1978, nine years after the Zodiac Killer first struck, one of the most prominent homicide cops working the case was suddenly removed from his post. By that time, Inspector David R. Toschi -- who had been on the case since day one -- is said to have interviewed 5,000 people and examined more than 2,000 suspects. So it's probable that his sudden transfer from homicide to (in Toschi's own words) "the pawnshop detail" was always going to make some headlines. The reason it blew up into a citywide reason to gossip was the person responsible for his demotion -- Tales of the City author and jaunty man about San Francisco, Armistead Maupin.
This whole thing started in August 1976 when Maupin consulted Toschi so he might better write the character of homicide detective Henry Tandy. Tandy was featured in Maupin's San Francisco Chronicle column and in the first Tales of the City book that combined many of those stories. True to Maupin's tendency to blend fiction and reality, Toschi was also written in as Tandy's mentor.