The Secret

Here we will try to uncover The Secret together. I will post what my conclusions are and will combine them with your comments in order to try and figure this out together.

Changelog

I will post the updates that I make here for each day I make them and I would encourage all the other contributors to do the same so that it's easier to follow for the readers.

19.06.2014.

• Updated the Fourth Picture section

09.02.2014.

• Updated the Clue Tree section

04.01.2014.
After a long time of inactivity from me and other contributors, I decided to start working on the Guide again, and start discovering more about The Secret. - Mr. Payday -

• I (Mr. Payday) added a new section "Bo's Cryptic Replies"
  
• I added a new section "The Mysterious Ceiling"
  
• I have now marked all my notes and additions to the guide in cursive text, so it's easier to read and understand the guide, and easier to look up my notes if you want to. :)
  
• I made a few modifications to the "Credits" section
  
• I fixed the size of the picture of the book cover at the "The Books of Cagliostro" section
  
• I am also reading through all the comments you post and think about everything you share with me and the other contributors of this Guide, no worries! I don't have time to reply to everyone though, and to be fair, a lot of stuff you share is just nonsense, or has been mentioned before. I will now try to become more active and reply to more people in this Guide!

11.10.2013.

• Updated the Clue Tree section (+ 2 "cards")

24.08.2013.

• Updated the Fourth Image section

23.08.2013.

• Solved the chemistry part, it seems it was just cocaine.

22.08.2013.

• [BMSTU_hEDGEhog] New part of guide - Clue Tree

20.08.2013.

• [Mr. Payday] Updated section: 'Books about Cagliostro'
  
• [Mr. Payday] Added section: 'Books about Cagliostro'

19.08.2013.

• Added new info about the fifth image and it's connection to the tarot card.
  
• Added the Ukrainian job mystery safe in the wall
  
• [Mr. Payday] added lots of additional notes to all sections

18.08.2013.

• Made the Conclusion so far... section please be sure to read it
  
• Added the extra space possibility in the bank in the comments section
  
• Added Chemistry Section
  
• Updated the credits
  
• Updated the Second Image and Comments and Speculations sections

17.08.2013.

• Made all the images smaller so that the guide loads faster and it's easier to read. You can access the full size by clicking on the image.
  
• I also added description to every image, would be long to post each change separately.
  
• Wrote the info on the infamous eighth image so that people know that we are aware of the meaning of MENDAX and the death chess.
  
• Added images from the comments to speculations and comments section of the guide.
  
• Added the update section.
  
• [Jim Snow] Added misc. comments to the guide.
  
• Fixed the wrong information about D.C. thx to [99Z]Pyroflash
  
• Added outer sources section
  
• Updated Credits section
  
• Added the original image of the painting on RATS
  
• Updated the hebrew letters status

Introduction

Good day my good friends. I'm here today to invite you to help me discover THE SECRET, I have good faith that together we can do it and bring glory to our names.

First a tad bit of history :D
Alessandro Cagliostro was and Italian “adventurer” who was also known in French as Joseph Balsamo. Now to save space and make it easy for everyone you can read more on the wiki about him. Link[en.wikipedia.org]

I hope I have the right guy. ;)

He had a bit of trouble with the law in France because of his alleged Affair of the Diamond Necklace. You can read more about it here: Affair of the Diamond Necklace[en.wikipedia.org]

One of the works that the dude presumably wrote is The Most Holy Trinosophia.
Now I think that this book will be one of the most important clues for decoding the images and finding the secret. Why? Well because from my knowledge the images mostly represent old alchemical, occult and zodiac symbols and since there are a lot of occult masters out there each with their own theory we need a guide or a key to decipher the code. Since the dude allegedly wrote the book I presume it’s a good starting point to go with it.

Possible sources of the book (authenticity is debatable it would be good if someone could get his hands on a copy): The Most Holy Trinosophia[ascension-research.org]

Also this part about it on the wiki intrigued me:
“Manly Palmer Hall then cites Dr. Edward C. Getsinger, "an eminent authority on ancient alphabets and languages," in emphasizing that La Très Sainte Trinosophie is couched in secret codes intended to conceal its contents from the profane.

In all my twenty years of experience as a reader of archaic writings I have never encountered such ingenious codes and methods of concealment as are found in this manuscript. In only a few instances are complete phrases written in the same alphabet; usually two or three forms of writing are employed, with letters written upside down, reversed, or with the text written backwards. Vowels are often omitted, and at times several letters are missing with merely dots to indicate their number. Every combination of hieroglyphics seemed hopeless at the beginning, yet, after hours of alphabetic dissection, one familiar word would appear. This gave a clue as to the language used, and established a place where word combination might begin, and then a sentence would gradually unfold. “

Also I can't resist but to tell how much the drawings reminded me of the movie from 1999 The Ninth Gate and their book The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows.

Also if you feel you can contribute and help out post in the comments or you can email me at [e-mail] with your contribution and I can add you as a friend and contributor so that you can help edit the guide.

So I guess we can start.

The Cover

The first „image” is, well not sure what to tell, the symbol is Fleur-de-lis more on it here[en.wikipedia.org].

Now about the taped text we can get from it AGLIOSTR while IO is covered by BAIN.
I tried several combos like AGLBAIN STR but the closest street for that is ALABIN STR.

Also if you try to Google search AGIBA you find a Petroleum Company that is located in Egypt now this might be a connection since the f*cker Cagliostro was connected to Egyptian Freemasonry[en.wikipedia.org] the wiki says a tad bit about some kind of rite that was merged.

Also when you write AGIBA in images you find a beach not sure if it is or how it would be connected.

The Second Image

The second image we can see the artists signature CGO on the right wall next to the doors.
Not sure if this will matter but it’s a detail.

Codex Raptus means:

• Codex- Latin caudex for "trunk of a tree" or block of wood, book
  
• Raptus- Raptus is the Latin for "seized", from rapere "to seize"

BMSTU_hEDGEhog: if we tie these words to combination, we will get Rulebook for Robbery
* One extra link from me about Raptus[www.wordsense.eu]

MDCCXCII is the year 1792 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1792)
1792 - Founding year of Washington D.C.
!!!Close, but not quite. Washington D.C. was actually founded on 16 July 1790.
The center of D.C., however, was determined in 1792 whenceforth they laid the 'Jefferson Stone' in the middle of the city. it must have some other historical significance.
Maybe the Washington Canal? it was first planned in 1792 and totaled an extreme sum of $21,604,651. This would be quite a bit of money nowadays no?!!!

[Jim Snow: 1792 - Laid the cornerstone of the "United States Executive Mansion". E.G: The White House, 1600 Penn. *Same 1792 Wiki link*]

BMSTU_hEDGEhog: 1792 - Deposition of the Louis XVI[en.wikipedia.org] during the French Revolution.

Cagliostro died in 1795 three years later. He was probably in the year 1792 in Fortress of San Leo[en.wikipedia.org] where he was transferred after he tried to escape from Castel Sant'Angelo[en.wikipedia.org]. So he was imprisoned at that time.

Update thanks to Warning!!!
It seems there is the "original" painting on the mission Rats.

[Jim Snow: Concerning this painting, I'm not so certain that it's the same, however it does reinforce my theories about the Philosopher's Stone tie-in, which I'll explain in more detail at a later date.]





My friend who is in art tells me that this picture is Noli me tangere, Jesus coming down after resurrection. The problem is that he doesn't recognize who the author is, but through reverse image search I managed to find it. :D

Picture details[www.geheugenvannederland.nl]
Author[en.wikipedia.org]

Title of the picture is De opstanding van Christus[en.wikipedia.org].

Original Image:


Not sure what to think anymore to be honest. It seems like we have a Dutch connection and heavy resurrection motives.


By =USE A= Alsdfjwoeihfdls:
In the second image, I believe they are on Day 3 of the Firestarter heist. The centurion is holding a torch, and there is a candle below him. He is reviving someone. Another man with a bag, presumably full of gold, stands behind them.

All the way in the back by a flag stands a fourth man. I believe these are the positions the heisters must stand in. One must be downed, the other reviving, the other standing with gold, the last at the van. At the top of the picture, there are the words Codex Raptus, which translates to seize the book.

Ever wonder why there's so many Rome books in the deposit boxes? You should be able to pick them up. However, you need to do something first. That's where MDCCXCII comes in. It's been interpreted to mean 1792, but I believe Overkill is tricking us. I think it's the order the deposit boxes must be opened.

So, in order to access the secret on Firestarter, I believe you must first: Access the vault, and burn the money. While it is burning, open the deposit boxes in the order of MDCCXCII. Then, one heister must escape to the van whilst the other three stay inside the vault. Presumably, one of the boxes will open with a bag of gold/cash.
After all are opened, one heister must be downed. As the third heister revives him, the heister with the bag will grab a Rome book, activating the secret.

I think the resurrection/philosopher's stone/Dutch connections are not true. However, there is a way to relate the picture De opstanding van Christus: Perhaps instead of reviving the fallen heister, one must bring him out of custody, not sure.

The Third Image

I have no clue about this image all I know is that the CGO is located in the bottom right corner on the grass.

In the image we see a Jester[en.wikipedia.org] carrying a bag over his shoulder and a sword in his right hand, he also doesn't seem too happy where he is going to.

[Jim Snow: Maybe not unhappy, just exhausted after a tough heist?]

Also the three mushrooms remind me of Psilocybin mushroom[en.wikipedia.org] to be more precise of Psilocybe semilanceata[en.wikipedia.org], but they could just symbolize the strong number three that is often found through out the images.

[Mr. Payday: Lots of pairs of three mushrooms can be found on Big Oil, Day 2]

There is also a balloon (aircraft)[en.wikipedia.org] in the image. Not sure if it has any connection to the rest of it.
Maybe it was an escape veichle that got away. :D

The Fourth Image

CGO is written on the right next to the crown on the tree top.

We see a man looking for something, he might be looking for the key and it could symbolize that we are missing the obvious. Also it could be that the man is a scout guarding the treasure and the arrow was fired at him.

[Jim Snow: Couple of theories here. One is that this shows the "Firestarter" mission, evidenced by the burning chest. If that is true, that key in the light makes me think of the power switch in the rooftop room, but not sure how that would fit in. Regardless, something tells me we need to stick around for the entire stack to burn, it seems to take a hell of a long time and I've not had the time/crew to test this, but I'll get around to it. Because it's showing the chest burning underground, maybe it burns it's way through the floor? Similar to the cans of thermite in FWB I'd guess, but I don't think all that money could generate enough heat. Still, a theory.]

!!! thx to George Abitbol we have idea that its Tree of Life in Kabbalah (similar picture) [encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com]

Keter (Hebrew: כֶּתֶר, lit. Crown) also known as Kether, is the topmost of the Sephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. Since its meaning is "crown", it is interpreted as both the "topmost" of the Sephirot and the "regal crown" of the Sephirot. It is between Chokmah and Binah (with Chokmah on the right and Binah in the left) and it sits above Tiphereth. It is usually given three paths, to Chokmah, Tiphereth, and Binah.

Keter is so sublime, it is called in the Zohar "the most hidden of all hidden things", and is completely incomprehensible to man. It is also described as absolute compassion, and Rabbi Moshe Cordovero describes it as the source of the 13 Supernal Attributes of Mercy.

Keter is invisible, colorless ( so the arrow suggest shooting something hidden/invisible)

UPDATE
On BIG BANK heist we can see this "painting" on roof. Similar, isnt it? Need to check this map.
ALL of it. :)

The Fifth Image

It seems this is a replica of Wheel of Fortune[en.wikipedia.org] tarot card. Thank you TreeBoar

BMSTU_hEDGEhog (I picked important information from link about that card):

Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fate.

There is wheel in the middle of card decorated with different letters and characters:
*Four Hebrew letters that make tetragram name of God (Yod-He-Vav-He).
*Four Latin forming the word TORA - or TARO, if you read in the opposite direction.
Secondly, the wheel shown Alchemy symbols: mercury, sulfur, water and salt.

Also the sun is similar to The Sun[en.wikipedia.org] and the moon to The Moon[en.wikipedia.org].
They are a piece of a set of Major Arcana[en.wikipedia.org].

Well here I we have something interesting the signature is on the “handle” and it’s BDN or BON not sure but I would say BDN.
Thanks to TreeBoar we have discovered that this is a pump drill[en.wikipedia.org]

Now I found a bit about the symbols on the lines in the center. These are alchemical symbols[en.wikipedia.org].

I presume that the left side (sun side) is east and on the line there is a circular symbol that should represent the Sun or Gold but it’s missing a middle dot but I’m thinking the line is covering it. It can also represent Salt or base matter.

On the west line we have I presume Sulfur, which is the omnipresent spirit of life.

---Mr. Payday: Inside gold is the alchemical Sun. Inside the Sun is an active substance, sulfur. Sometimes alchemists equal sulfur with the Sun. Sulfur is the spirit of life. Sulfur is of a twofold nature: white and red sulfur. White sulfur is the substance of the Great Work at the phase of Whiteness, and red sulfur at the stage of redness. In general sulfur is the symbol for the active principle in the Great Work.

As Nicholas Flamel said:
But that (the fire) which comes from the sun,
which fire maintains
every bodily thing
for as far as it is natural.

Sulphur, the fiery spirit that vivifies everything. The wings on his head and feet are the traditional representations of the god Mercury.---

On the south line we have Mercury the fluid connection between the High and the Low.

---Mr. Payday: No alchemical symbol is so confusing as Mercury. Here are some explanations of this mysterious substance. As sulphur is the symbol for the active principle, mercury is the symbol of the passive principle. Mercury is a term used for almost everything. It is the highest divinity, but also a devil. It is used to symbolize certain aspects of the alchemical work, but at the same time it is them all. It is ambiguous with many names and functions. The alchemists often speak about mercury in the form of the god Mercury, whom we encounter in their engravings and paintings. As the god Mercury he is often seen as having qualities that belong both to mercury and to sulfur.

Usually mercury is used in its chemical form, quicksilver. Symbolic of course, it indicates volatility or fluidity, by which it is also named ‘water of life’ or ‘root humidity’.

In his aspect of fire, Mercury is the sole fire in the entire process. He is the working force in the Great Work. He is an ‘invisible, secretly working fire’. He is the fire of hell, the infernal fire in the earth. Mercury is the spirit of man that works in the lower aspects of being, and thus is looked upon as an infernal fire.

In his air aspect, he is the spirit, the air, the wind that is present everywhere in Nature and vivifies everything. He is ‘the spirit of truth hidden in the earth’.

He is called the ‘prima materia’, the chaos, the rough stone at the beginning of the Great Work. As Saturn he initiates putrefaction, but also gives immortality. At the same time he is the goal of the Great Work, the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life, the philosophical gold. Mercury is the process of transmutation.

In alchemical images Mercury is depicted both as a young man and an old man. As an old man he is usually in the form of Saturn, the common man, fixed in matter with his habits, prejudices, and other material chains. As a young boy, he comes forth from the ‘coniunctio’, the joining of the King and Queen, representing rebirth, and eternal youth.

Mercury is also called ‘quadratus’ because he contains the four elements, thus he is the quintessence. Another name for him is ‘azoth’ a word formed from the Latin letters A and Z, the Greek words Alpha and Omega, and the Hebrew words Aleph and Thau, all meaning the beginning and the end.---

According to Paracelsus these are the Three Primes, but we also have a fourth symbol on the north line.

The symbol on the north line is an alchemical process of multiplication also an Aquarius symbol.

P.S. I may have failed the map directions NSWE but I went from the image that the sun is located on the left and it's presumably rising so it must be east there and then it's facing south so south is the up arrow. This would mean that north is the bottom line and the root of the word north is word nord which means down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North

It's Hebrew[en.wikipedia.org], woke up this morning and went through my Greater Key of Solomon and saw it was Hebrew.



I think we have Yod (the vertical ~) and across it Resh but f*** me if I know Hebrew.

Thanks to Bruce we have managed to somewhat translate the letters in the circle.
When we have more solid results I'll post them.

More images for you to play with need to do a job be back in afternoon.

The Sixth Image

Notable things:

• Roman number 4 above the bars
  
• 3 bars
  
• 3 stars under the cloud
  
• Lady Justice[en.wikipedia.org]

BDN signature on the left of the bush in the right corner.
This image is lamost all in the number of three[en.wikipedia.org].

The Seventh Image

Author BDN, between two table legs.

We presume this man to be Saint Jude Thaddeus[en.wikipedia.org]. Another link about him: Jude[saints.sqpn.com]

[Mr. Payday: The guy on the picture may be Thomas Hobbes (said he solved the problem 'squaring the circle' --> Philosopher's Stone). Another possibility (although he has a much shorter beard) is the alchemist Althotas. He and Cagliostro went to Alexandra, Egypt and finally Malta together, where in Malta they worked together in the laboratory of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta.]

In the image we see at the top "poster" alchemy symbols for Mercury Salt and Gold.
Giving us the formula Mercury with base matter (salt) multiplication (waves) gives Gold or is also combined with gold.

Underneath it we have Sublimation[en.wikipedia.org] with Lead (Saturn Symbol) and I don't recognize the man looking symbol and the crossed lines.

[Mr. Payday: The man looking symbol is an unexisting symbol as far as I know. The crossed lines may stand for 'Summer'. It might mean we need to do this in the summer (this summer). Note: also notice the 'libra' symbol above the crossed lines. Libra stands for freedom but also represents the 'scales' (the scales are being held by Lady Justice).]

The last symbol is synthesis of alchemy or the Hermetic Seal[symboldictionary.net] symbol.

We have three flasks. The right one is Erlenmeyer flask[en.wikipedia.org], the middle one is Florence flask[en.wikipedia.org] and the left one is Round bottom flask[en.wikipedia.org].

---Mr. Payday: The content of the left flask may be 'Nitric acid'. See it's alchemical symbol below here in one of the charts (I also included all other pages for alchemical symbols, check them out):


We see the book with the roman number 3 on it. There is a dice on the floor with one facing upwards and 3 on the left side and 2 on the right giving us the total of six.

---Mr. Payday: The roman number 3 on the book might mean we need to look further into the original book of Cagliostro.[books.google.nl]

I had a look through it already, and it seems that Cagliostro has been to the Netherlands (remember the further connections to the Netherlands), and he was a fan of hermetic art.

For an example I found this piece of hermetic art:

Mention all of the symbols connected to Alchemy, but also to gods (you can also see the Grim Reaper, the Jester and the Sun God on this picture with all their alchemical symbols.)

I'll have a better thoroughly look through the book soon.---

[Jim Snow: To tie in with the image of Death, 1 is in the light while 2 is in the dark, mirroring the chess pieces.]

He is writing something and has a so far unknown necklace.

---Mr. Payday: The necklace may be the Illuminati triangle, but may also be - which is more logic - the element fire as an alchemical symbol (also notice the flame above his head).---

There is a skull[en.wikipedia.org] on the table with a hole in the forehead. It could be a gunshot wound from an old gun since modern weapons leave a cleaner hole or it could have been made with some kind of a spike.

---Mr. Payday: The Elixir of Life (extracted from the Philosopher's Stone) might need to be drunk out of a skull---

The Eighth Image

Author CGO under the hourglass.
Here we see a game of chess played with death underneath the gallows.
On the gallows[en.wikipedia.org] is written MENDAX[en.wikipedia.org] which has several meanings (see link). In latin[en.wiktionary.org] it means liar, cheater, deceiver.

[Mr. Payday: NOTE: Mendax also means Storyteller. I did some further research on Mendax, and I came to [url=https://twitter.com/Regal_Coprea]this twitter page[/url]. In this guy's description also Aleister Crowley is being mentioned (lots of connections between him and all other subjects). Also, Mendax was the nickname for Julian Assange (WikiLeaks).]

We also have an hourglass[en.wikipedia.org] which has run out.
Could mean that our move is over.

[Mr. Payday: The hourglass is also an alchemical symbol (since there are multiple alchemic symbols on the pictures in Bains guide this seems logic to me). The hourglass as an alchemical symbol stands for one hour, which would mean we need to wait 1 hour for something to happen, or for the secret to unlock (Overdrill, anyone?), or we need to do something WITHIN one hour.]

It also seems that death had the black pieces and the player had white ones, meaning that the player went first. The figures on the chess board seem to be black king and black bishop and the white king who is in danger from the bishop.

[Mr. Payday: I think you are wrong here. The black ones are a Rook (Tower) and either a Bishop or a King (hard to distinguish). The white one also looks like a Rook (Tower). In this case it would mean there's no King, nor a Queen on the battlefield.]
The weird thing is that the board is reversed. For this to be possible the bishop should be black field not white but I might be wrong here. Could mean that we have to reverse the playing field. Also the pieces are hard to distinguish so it might mean that we need to have three players and one will be betrayed (?).

[Jim Snow: Could also mean that 2 out of the three will die before they get to the secret, leaving only one to finish the job. This image was called "The Cheating Death" by a friend, as in Death is cheating the opponent player (us). It seems to make sense. *EDIT: I can also see it meaning 2 out of the three of our clients (The Elephant, Vlad, and Hector) and their associated missions lead to death/failure while one leads to the true Secret heist, which also fits in with the presence of Mendax.*]

We also have a horseshoe[en.wikipedia.org] under the table which is facing downwards which can mean bad luck or that it's giving all it's luck towards the person it's turned to.

"When kept as a talisman, a horseshoe is said to bring good luck. Some believe that to hang it with the ends pointing upwards is good luck as it acts as a storage container of sorts for any good luck that happens to be floating by, whereas to hang it with the ends pointing down, is bad luck as all the good luck will fall out. Others believe that the horseshoe should be hung the other way (with the ends pointing down), as it will then release its luck to the people around it."

The Ninth Image

Author CGO, top center to the left of vines/branches.
Again number three all over the image but other then that nothing specific or cryptic.

[Mr. Payday: As you can see in this image the shadow is holding a 'lootbag', while you can't see that on the real person, which could mean you have to do the secret in stealth. Also, the person has 'buried the sword' which means he doesn't want to fight or stopped fighting, which also hints to stealth.]

The Tenth Image

Author CGO, top left corner in the brick of a wall.

A man with a thief mask over his eyes, he's been in the cell for 37 days and we can see it's night, a full mun cover by cloud can be seen through the window bars.

[Mr. Payday: The 37 in prison may also mean that atleast one of the players needs to be in custody for 37 seconds or 37 minutes.]

A plant is growing from the ground through the boards and someone is offering the man a way to "escape" the prison specifically a noose[en.wikipedia.org]. He's holding his leg chain and is looking towards us which might mean that the doors were open. The hand which the noose is being offered is the right hand.

[Mr. Payday: This person may be Cagliostro himself, but I can't find any date that we was sent to (this) prison. Maybe we need to calculate 37 days further from that date on, and see if something happened on that day.]

Bain's Last Page

---Mr. Payday: 'Deep(er) down the rabbit hole' may redirect to two things.

1. Alice in Wonderland
Alice goes down 'through the rabbit hole' under a tree to enter the magic wonderland. The big tree in Big Oil, Day 2 is suspicious in my opinion.

2. Doomweaver music
Anyone mentioned several Doomweaver posters in some of the maps (there are 2 next to eachother in Big Oil, Day 2)? One of them is called 'Ritual Abuse' and the other one is 'Sludge Factor' I believe.

Mentioning the first one first, I went searching on Google for 'Ritual Abuse Song'. This is the first thing I found.[www.reverbnation.com]

As you will perhaps notice, down to the bottom there is a button called 'Rabbit Hole'. When you click it you go on to a sortlike song or music track. Then the button changes into 'Go Deeper' (Down the Rabbit Hole). You can keep clicking this forever and you will keep reaching new songs.
After a while I came upon the song 'Third Eye' by the metal band 'Tool'. The icon of 'Tool' is the all-seeing eye, which is much used in the game, together with the Illuminati triangle. If you noticed, this Illuminati triangle with the all-seeing eye can also be seen in the Big Oil mission. The song 'Third Eye' on this website though, lasted only 10 seconds, instead of the full 13 minutes or so, and the lyrics were not even part of the full song, they were different to it. It was hard to hear - maybe someone can hear what they are really singing (read: screaming)?

Go here:
http://www.reverbnation.com/qendrim

Also, I looked up 'Sludge Factor' and I came upon 'Sludge Factory', made by 'Alice in Chains'. This socalled band also has a song called 'Bank Heist.'

Not sure if this is all just coincidence, but it may all relate to eachother.---

The Books about Cagliostro

---Mr. Payday: I have found two books about Cagliostro so far. The first one can be read online for free here:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=AEsDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=nl&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=chapter%202&f=false

More information about him can be read here:
http://www.digitalhistoryproject.com/2012/04/joseph-balsamo-count-de-cagliostro.html

And even more info:
http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/count-alessandro-di-cagliostro

And then now the important part. There's this book called 'The Seven Ordeals of Count Cagliostro'. On the front of this book a mask is shown (King Baldwin anyone?). Look at the front here yourself:

Also, the description of the book reads:
"Also the leader of an exotic brand of Freemasonry, Count Cagliostro was indisputably one of the most influential and notorious figures of the latter eighteenth century, overcoming poverty and an ignoble birth to become the darling -- and bane -- of upper-crust Europe."

Noticed 'bane' which could redirect to 'Bain'?

You can check the last book here: http://browseinside.harpercollins.com.au/index.aspx?isbn13=9780732273989

Comments and Speculations

Also the author signatures on pages might have something to do with the deposit boxes in the bank heist since they have letters and numbers.

So far we have heavy alchemy, resurrection and death cheating motives.
Not sure how we can combine all this but we will have to find a way.

Things that so far go together:

• Alchemy
  
• Resurrection
  
• Washington D.C.
  
• Gold
  
• Cheating/Escape
  
• Number 3

This would mean that our mission or the secret might have to do with cheating/escaping someone or something, using alchemy or chemistry (XD) to possibly create gold in Washington D.C. and with all the resurrection stuff going on it might be near or on the graveyard or memorial.

[Jim Snow: There's also the mysterious safe that you can find in the Ukrainian Job (which can be drilled & shaped charged) just underneath one of the pictures in the right-side backroom (from where you come from across the street). It's conveniently lined up with a boarded door on the side of the building, which I'm planning on getting one of my saw-wielding mania- err, friends to open. Will get pics when Steam Overlay starts working again.]

Also a friend reminded me of Occam's razor [en.wikipedia.org] keep it in mind.

Also look at the image below. Take notice of their positions, Overdrill anyone???
Credits go to Maxyzzz940



More new clues:



From this

To this



If you LDW out of Baldwin, you would Get Bain. It might not be much, but I'm trying to says if LDW references anything. --> Thanks to Astrocat

LDW Acronyms[acronyms.thefreedictionary.com]

We might have some extra space in the bank as we can see from these images thx to BMSTU_hEDGEhog
Also note the method he used to investigate quite clever if I may say so :D http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/901005107628401053/CFE0E2F09216B18A0872AB45AA504F29193A4B3C/ http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/901005107628609622/FF3BE8DB7F01D2DCE2F881A6C44A700A0CC8179C/ http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/901005107628628884/2AF8525E91F8346FB36882F345491166CC8EB606/


Fleur de lis wallpaper with a roman number 2

Chemistry Section

The image

Thx to =USE A= Alsdfjwoeihfdls who noticed that on the periodic table of elements in the background, Hafnium has an x across it, and niobium and sodium are circled we have a new clue. Hafnium is Hf, Niobium is Nb, and Sodium is Na


Thx to Divine Art (cbdeadeye)
The big molecule in the middle of the picture is Cocaine, also written above in the mass(mg)/time(day) chart

The series of 3 molecules at the bottom shows the Hydrolysis of Heroin
I found the picture on google, leading to this site:
Structural basis of heroin and cocaine metabolism by a promiscuous human drug-processing enzyme[www.nature.com]
As you look a bit closer, you can see they took the exact image to use in PD2: http://imgur.com/1zAv5Hw

The Mysterious Ceiling

---Mr. Payday--- Hello, once again, fellow heisters!

In the map Framing Frames, Day 3, me and my friends found a lot of interesting stuff, including this very special, mysterious ceiling:


PLEASE NOTE: WE FOUND THIS 20 AUGUST, 2013 ALREADY, SO PERHAPS SOMETHING HAS CHANGED! I NEVER SHARED THIS WITH YOU GUYS, BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WASN'T INTERESTING ENOUGH!


I have edited the screenshot and added red text to it, so you can see what the "arrows" are pointing at.
It's very special, because this "object" is the only single one you can find in the game, while many objects can be found in several maps.
It's even more special, because it has the same amount of "arrows" as The Wheel of Fortune from Bain's guide.
In this same specific room there is also one strange black painting, which is also unique, you can't find it anywhere else. There's also NEVER a camera in that painting, and it's always hanging there; the same painting and the same spot. One of the "arrows" is also pointing towards it.
One of the other arrows is pointing directly at the Moon (and with that I really mean DIRECTLY).
We tried figuring out where the Sun would be if the Moon was there, and look if there would be anything in the direction of the Sun, but we couldn't find anything.

Two pictures of the painting:



Interesting huh? Please let me know what you guys think!

-/-Mr. Payday OUT-/-

Bo's Cryptic Replies

--Mr. Payday--
A few days ago, someone created this topic, demanding Bo to give answers or he would start shooting hostages and at the end the alter-ego of Bo (the Bank Manager, just like in PD1):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/218620/discussions/0/648814844214457983/?tscn=1388836105#p1

Bo replied twice.
His first reply was:
"All I say... is that on top of my tree is a Star."

His second reply was:
"Twinkle, twinkle little star... I wonder where you are."

The first reply could refer to a Christmas tree, like on the main menu, or the GO Bank heist, but that would be too easy ofcourse. He says on top of my tree. Perhaps on top of the Bodhi tree, or on top of the tree in Big Oil, Day 2? Anything is possible at this time.

Another interesting thing is that Star is capitalised, and when you read Star backwards, you get Rats, which also takes place entirely at night time. Enough trees in Rats, Day 1 aswell. Perhaps we should take a look?

Finally, his second reply is almost the same as the lyrics from the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
The lyrics from that song say:
"Twinkle, twinkle little star, I wonder WHAT you are."
So "what" instead of "where".

Also, the lyrics say:
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

Diamonds, diamonds! We might also want to check Jewelry Store, Ukrainian Job and the Diamond Store Heist.

For those interested to listen to the song, and see the "official videoclip" themselves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCjJyiqpAuU

/-/Mr. Payday OUT/-/

Friendly & Helpful Sites

Other sites that deal with our topic.

Reddit

Steam Forums

Something that caught my attention while I was scanning the forums:

Malcom:
"As for regarding some of the sayings in the game.

When doing any Bank Heist Mission, Bain can be heard saying

'And remember, Cash is King'

This by itself means relatively nothing, except that money is the boss round these parts. However, if you select a 'Bank Heist' Mission that is NOT gold, deposit or cash, he will, on occasion, give a very specific intro for this thread:

'Okay people, my guy says this is a good time to hit the bank. Turns out the harvest and bank trustee bank manager should of kept his mouth shut. Anything could be in here, Government Secrets, Dirty Laundy, the Hope Diamond. You never know, lets hit this bank and find out.'

The Hope Diamond[en.wikipedia.org]
This diamond is also currently in a Necklace.
Besides that, one of its former owners was Louis XIV[en.wikipedia.org] of France.

And further;

The Hope Diamond, also known as "Le Bijou du Roi" ("the King's Jewel"), "Le bleu de France" ("the Blue of France"), and the Tavernier Blue.

My 2 cents on the matter? We're on a quest to steal the Hope Diamond. The last over vault had one very precious thing in it, Gold. Its time to steal a Diamond worth 250 Million.

Edit: Regarding 3 people and the club: The bouncer ALWAYS says 'Three Gents' as he tells you to come on in. "

Conclusion so far...

Well first I need to say how proud I am of you guys, you are really searching and thinking about this riddle. From all the clues we gathered I have drawn a conclusion.

I think that the object of the heist will probably be a french piece of jewelry, so far what we can gather it's either gonna be Hope Diamond[en.wikipedia.org] or the diamond necklace from Affair of the Diamond Necklace [en.wikipedia.org].

The secret will probably require knowledge of chemistry, physics and mathematics. To which extent I’m unsure of but as the heist progress in the levels we can see that they get harder and harder and they also require some kind of a scientific knowledge in order to solve them the “easy” way.

I also think that stealth and patience will be a crucial part in solving the mystery, it might even be that the secret will only be doable every few days or a certain period of time. So far we can conclude that three players will be important in solving the mystery in which way we don’t know yet but this doesn't mean that the fourth player will be useless or not needed, I still think that he will have a role to play.

Also like I said in the introduction as soon as I saw the guide and the images I thought of The Ninth Gate[en.wikipedia.org] and it resembles just too much to be a coincidence, especially when you take into consideration the two different signatures. It might be that we need to order the pages in a certain way so that they tell us a story but for now we can’t be sure.

About the Fleur-de-lis[en.wikipedia.org] I would presume that it has no secret meaning but it acts like an X on a pirate’s map. This sign could mark important parts of the game that are crucial to revealing the secret so keep an eye out for them.

Now the “bad” news I don’t think we will be able to test these theories yet, so for the time being we need to keep our mind open for all the ideas, from the Movie inspired ones to the guy yelling that we need to get high enough from the police gas in order to see the secret. Why I’m saying this?

It’s because I don’t think that the game is finished yet. I don’t mean this in a bad way I’m just saying that not all of the heists are available to us yet and the ones that are still have bugs and exploits here and there. This leads me to conclude that the mechanics to open the secret haven’t yet been fully implemented or are not fully functional.

So for now every theory can be true and possible unless someone from the TEAM gives us some kind of a hint so that we know where to start from or if we are even close to the right path.

Now to continue with the hunt...

Clue Tree

[BMSTU_hEDGEhog]:
Ok, heisters. So far we have tons of clue and hints. Some of them is SOLID like rock :)
Cause of that I created with my brother White_3Designer thing called CLUE TREE. It will have CLUE and CONNECTIONS between them. I can and I will use only SOLID clue, remember it. Im doing it cause of 2 reasons:
1. It will be useful for people who wants to help. (taliking about same comments and e.t.c.)
2. If some of you don't want to read comments or guide (why are you here then? ^^) this picture will "SHOW" you our progress.
This TREE will be upgrated each time by me, if we (guide) will see "golden" comments from you, our readership (I'm counting on you).
And last. If you want to tell me about ideas with this TREE, add me and tell me your ideas. It can be anything (new clue, new connection). Stay focus.

This is a Link with BIGGER resolution if you will have problems with smaller version. Open it using Paint or other graphic editor.

Copyright

I hope that I'm not breaking any copyright or anything similar to it by posting these images in this guide.

If I am or if they have an issue with me posting them Overkill Studio can either contact me here on steam or trough the email that I created for this guide specifically, which is located at the bottom of the introduction section.

Thank you :)

Credits

Here I will post people that have contributed in making of this guide, through their comments or PM's.

You can click on their names to go to their Steam profiles.

Main writers of the Guide:

• [Cash.net] Mr. Payday
  
• BMSTU_hEDGEhog
  
• Jim Bian

Other contributors, in no particular order:

• [HdF] Almut Grete
  
• Unnreal
  
• Warning
  
• Mclovin
  
• TheOxygenZero
  
• Maxyzzz940
  
• [EFH]Dante
  
• Eremeirgraymane
  
• Astrocat
  
• [99Z]Pyroflash
  
• =USE A= Alsdfjwoeihfdls
  
• TreeBoar
  
• BigD
  
• Divine Art (cbdeadeye)
  
• George Abitbol

I hope this list will grow bigger as time passes by!

The hunt for The Secret continues in 2015 as well!
We feel like we are getting closer.
The problem is: Bain is also hunting for The Secret, we have to stay ahead of him!

[Bonbon]

i feel like we are missing something at big bank idk

[Jazz59107]

I remember reading this way back when and I hoped Payday would have this secret in. Even though the search was like the search in Shadow of the Colossus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQNeYbBiCKw
I feel like this had a hand in actually making a great ending for Payday 2. I hope eventually that another secret comes in Payday 3. Thanks for making this guide and search, I appreciate it

[Medic Main]

Oof

[Quambas]

lol talk about deprecated

[Eddieboy]

RIP

[Canadian Bacon]

The secret didn't even relate to this stuff lol

[Fily]

Well, all of this overanalyzing was useless.

[Event Horizon]

Get a Life, nerds.

[SuicidalBanana]

---> https://www.reddit.com/r/payday2secret/ <---

[Nobody]

P.S#2:The Medallion is also important because of the riddle: "For the watcher of the star", and it has a Fleur-de-lys symbol(wallpaper in jewellry store), and a Peridot crystal which is similar to its "Big Brother", The Diamond, in the The Diamond(heist).