I think its quite possible it had been released to Crump that GZ says he first spotted TM by Taffe's.
Serino could have mentioned it to Tracy in their 2/28 briefing.
What would be the best story to put forth that would make TM walking by Taffe's house seem benign?
Wouldn't it be better to say that Trayvon actually used the shortcut? The letter says 'he decided to find a shortcut', then never mentions the shortcut again.
Btw, I think this is the first appearance of the word 'shortcut' in the discovery.
I wouldn't assume that the 'shortcut' that Trayvon 'decided to find' was the same 'shortcut' that has been touted in the media. I wouldn't assume that it was a shortcut from Colonial Village to RATL.
Why would Trayvon need to 'find' the shortcut? If he was taking the shortest route through Colonial Village, the 1460/1510 cut-through would have been right in front of him. Keeping to the route and direction one is already on is not usually described as a 'shortcut', even if it is the shortest way. What is being cut?
To put it another way, Trayvon, in this scenario, would have already taken a 'shortcut' by deciding to go through Colonial Village. After making that decision, he couldn't cut his route to RATL any shorter.
The letter doesn't say when Trayvon passed from 'another complex' to RATL. It would be more consistent with Dee Dee's later statements for that to happen before Trayvon reported being watched or followed.
In the letter, Trayvon wasn't being followed after 'he decided to find a shortcut', then was being followed again, and then came the confrontation. That means that 'he decided to find a shortcut' corresponds to Trayvon running in the later statements. Again, that suggests Trayvon was already inside RATL when 'he decided to find a shortcut'.
The letter doesn't say the shortcut Trayvon 'decided to find' was a shortcut from 'another complex' into RATL. The letter doesn't say what the shortcut would have been from or to, or if Trayvon ever found it, or if it actually existed. It is a mysterious, Twilight Zonish shortcut.