Every so often, I get emails or phone calls from people who want to share their Black Dahlia theories with me.

I am a patient man. I always listen to what they say and I always read their emails. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

But without exception, these folks have their heads crammed full of nonsense from the terrible books that have been written about the case, the sensational TV shows or some of the rubbish that is online.

A few of the people who contact me are troubled individuals, but most are well-meaning and genuinely assume that they have an angle that nobody has ever considered. Their “new” theory is almost always something that has been breezing around the Internet for years in one form or another and fuses the Black Dahlia case with another old, usually unsolved, killing.

Let me say once again — and I cannot emphasize this enough — except for the envelope that contained some of Elizabeth Short’s belongings, all the other letters and postcards sent to the police and the newspapers were from crackpots, cranks, pranksters  and a few well-meaning individuals. The vast majority of the mail — and that includes everything from whoever signed himself as the “Black Dahlia Avenger” — is junk.