Like everyone else, I too have worked on the Beale cyphers on and off for several years. On Mondays,Wednesdays and Fridays I feel they may be a con game. But on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I am sure they are real!! I really don't know if there was a Thomas J. Beale or if there is a treasure of gold' silver and jewels hidden in a vault in Virginia. This could all be a cover story and the cyphers may deal with something else entirely. However, if the mystery is ever solved I am personally convinced that paper no. 2, the decyphered text, holds the answer. fact, the decyphered text actually says so. It appears the decyphered text contains a coded message. And a code is much harder to break than a cypher. Maybe when I get the time I'll renew my membership in the Beale Cypher Association and give it another try. Lou Layton