We prove this with two-step induction to n. For n=2, it follows from the conditions that z1=z2=1, and so then z1−z2=0.
For n=3, it follows from the conditions that (z1,z2,z3) equals (1,1,2), (1,2,1), or (1,2,3). In these cases, we choose (s1,s2,s3) to be equal to (1,1,−1), (1,−1,1), and (1,1,−1), respectively.
Now suppose we have proved the statement for n=k and n=k−1, where k≥2. Let z1,…,zk+1 be numbers that satisfy the conditions in the problem statement. We distinguish two cases.
First, suppose that zk=zk+1. Applying the induction hypothesis for n=k−1 to z1,…,zk−1 we find s1,…,sk−1 such that s1z1+⋯+sk−1zk−1=0. Now we also have that
s1z1+⋯+sk−1zk−1+zk−zk+1=0,
which proves the statement in this case.
Now suppose that zk=zk+1. Then ∣zk−zk+1∣≥1. In addition, we also know that ∣zk−zk+1∣≤k because 1≤zk,zk+1≤k+1. Since ∣zk−zk+1∣=zk+zk+1(mod2), we also have that z1+⋯+zk−1+∣zk−zk+1∣ is even. So we can apply the induction hypothesis for n=k to z1,…,zk−1,∣zk−zk+1∣. As a result, we find s1,…,sk such that:
s1z1+⋯+sk−1zk−1+sk∣zk−zk+1∣=0.
Since ∣zk−zk+1∣=±(zk−zk+1), this proves the statement. □