When understanding people, Freud thought symbols were key, but sometimes a puzzle’s just a puzzle, you see.

Assemble the shapes and you might discover the pieces you need to blow someone’s cover.

There’s only one answer that’s full and complete. Use the address that is not on a street.

Put together the jigsaw puzzle. It is the picture of a mask covered with fragments of words. Only one of the lines of text make sense.

The one line of text that means anything is a web address. The website that is revealed when you complete the puzzle is: www.theresystance.com/MA/. It shows you a letter from none other than French Queen Marie Antoinette to her brother. In the letter, dated 20 August 1777, she says that it has been a few days since his visit with her at Versailles and that her brother’s travelling companion was Prince Charles de Linge. She reveals that the visit lasted for two months, which means that Prince de Linge could not have been in Venice for the last meeting with Inquisitors on 29 July. He is not the spy!

Madame Helveticus was clever indeed. You should ask her for a clue you might need.

Transposing these letters can really be fun. Just convert them to a zero or one.

Don’t let these numbers make your team fret. It’s the groups that are letters in the alphabet.

A is 0, B is 1, and 10 is equal to C. Using only zeros and ones, 11 has got to be D. The next higher number must be 100 and that number represents E. Continue this pattern for all of the rest, then translate the message you see.

If solving ciphers makes you hungry and vexed, perhaps Bacon would be the thing to try next.

Transpose each set of “ab” combinations into a 5 digit number of ones for ‘b’ and zeros for ‘a’. Then order the numbers numerically and look for any patterns. Since this is probably a written message, one of the sets must represent “A”. Logically, the lowest number in the sequence, “00000” could be “A”.

Could the key to the number sequence be a simple movement of the 1 into a higher place, 0, 10, 100, 1000 etc? Not likely, since the next number, 00111 doesn’t fit that pattern.

Notice the progression in two sets of the numbers. The first goes from 01100 to 01101, which, if all you have are zeros and ones, would be the next possible higher number. The second set goes from 10001 to 10010 to 10011, which again is the sequence of three numbers you would get if all you had were zeros and ones.

So, if the sequence of increasing numbers is from 01100 to 01101 and from 10001 to 10010 to 10011, the pattern that emerges is “0 – 1 – 10 – 11” and the next possible higher number can only be 100. Continue the pattern after 100. 101, 110, 111, and the next highest number after 111 can only be 1000.

Make a sequence of numbers using this progression of “0 – 1 – 10 – 11”. Since all the codes are made of 5 digits, 0 should be written “00000”, and 1 is written “00001”, etc. Assuming 00000 = A, fill in the rest of the alphabet. Click on the link to see the completed key. And use the key to translate the message.

The cipher substitutes letters for a 5 digit code made of As and Bs. Change the As to zeros and the Bs to ones to get a series of 5 digit numbers. To find the key to the cipher, you must use the numbers you know to create it. Starting with the lowest number possible using zeros and ones, 00000 = A. Each letter is one number higher than the last, but using only zeros and ones. So 00001 = B and 00010 = C and 00011 = D. Click on the link below to see the key. Continue building the sequence of numbers for each letter of the alphabet and then use that key to translate the coded message. If you want to look it up, this puzzle is a version of the Bacon cipher, invented by Sir Francis Bacon. Fun fact: there are rumors that William Shakespeare was, in fact, Francis Bacon and he included ciphers in some of the plays that would reveal this if solved. The solution to the cipher leads you to the website address: www.theresystance.com/MH. There you will read a letter dated 22 June 1777 from Madame Helvetius to her friend Gwendolyn inviting her to Helvetius’ home in Paris for a salon. After name-dropping the celebrities that may attend, Helvetius says the gathering will be on 29 July. Since that is the very date that Inquisitors in Venice met with their spy, Madame Helvetius cannot be the one.

Solving this mystery may be hard to do, but look to Voltaire to give you a clue.

Each symbol you see corresponds to a letter, but one can be two, making it better.

Deciphering this may at first seem quite terrible, but knowing one thing might just make it bearable: The second row here is not like the first. Use the dots to help you sort out the worst.

The colors here will help you not to be thwarted. Follow the rainbow to know how they’re sorted.

This cipher’s confounding, of this there’s no doubt, but a Knight Templar might help sort it out.

The clue to this cipher is on the profile card of Voltaire. There you find the same symbols used in the journal arranged in wheels with each other. To figure out how these symbols translate into letters, note the following: 1) Each set of 4 symbols is colored. 2) Those colors are green, orange, red, and yellow. 3) There are 24 symbols. 4) There is an X after the first groups of 12 symbols. An an X used in the journal along with the other symbols. 5) There is a dot before the second set of 12 symbols. Many of the symbols in the journal have dots in them. 6) The topmost symbol in the third set of symbols has the letters “I/J” on it.

The sets of symbols are arranged left to right to represent the alphabet. The colors show you what order the letters occur in each set of four. The topmost symbol in the third set represents letters I and J. The X represents the letter N. If you want to look it up, this cipher is known as a Templar cipher because it was allegedly used by the secretive order of the Knights Templar and the red cross symbol on Voltaire’s portrait is the Templar Cross made up of all the 25 symbols. Translated, the final text reads: August 3, 1777, I have just returned from the most enjoyable jaunt to Paris with my dear friend Benjamin Franklin. We spent three weeks entertained by the most charming and witty revelers that Paris has to offer. Mr. Franklin is himself a rogue of a character and his bawdy wit and incessant flirting contradict his reputation as a solemn statesman and teetotaler. He is quite insistent on his early to bed and rise and keeps his wits about him, but for all that is the greatest of traveling companions. I hope to travel with him again soon and enjoy his clever repartee. Now, off to rest, as my schedule matched his early mornings, but did not reflect his early evenings! Voltaire Being in Paris with Benjamin Franklin for three weeks prior to 3 August 1777 means that Voltaire could not have been in Venice to meet the Inquisitors on 29 July. Complete exoneration!

The solving of ciphers can feel quite sublime, but they don’t take forever, just look at the time!

Revealing the message is confusing at first, find the words that you seek by their place in the verse.

The message is hidden in a gossiping note. The hands will reveal the words that he wrote.

The position of the clock hands are key to solving this puzzle. Their meaning derives from the position of Hour, then Minute. The clocks are a key to a second part where the message is encrypted. Use the letter to Mme Giustina Renier Michiel, the hostess of the masquerade, from her friend Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d’Autricourt, which is the actual name of Madame Helvetius.

The clock hands refer to specific words in the letter. The hour hand indicates the row of text in the letter, while the minute hand indicates the word in the line.

The clock puzzle uses the letter from Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d’ Autricourt as the key to the cipher. If you want to look it up, it is known as a Beale cipher. The times on the clock will tell you the line and position within the line to find the words you need to reveal the following message: Madame, Forgive my boldness, but you quite intrigue me with your charms. Might I request a private audience in the third floor sitting room at Eight O’Clock? Respectfully, Giacomo Casanova

Solve all of the four puzzles. Each one should reveal some information about one of the suspects that either implicates or exonerates them.

By process of elimination, you should have discovered that it is only Casanova that does not have an alibi for the time and date of the information transfer to the Italian Inquisitors. He is the spy. Unmask him at www.theresystance.com/inquisition by using his name as the password.