Let's Decipher a Letter of the Silent Film Star Mary Miles Minter

In this video, we decipher an encrypted letter which was written by silent film star Mary Miles Minter. She sent this letter to her lover William Desmond Taylor. Taylor was murdered and Minter was among the suspects. Of course their love letters were deciphered and published. This led to a scandal in that time in 1922; a 20-year old woman has a relationship to a 30 years older man.

To decipher the letter, I created a transcription of the ciphertext. In this video, we analyze the ciphertext using CrypTool 2's monoalphabetic substitution analyzer component.The ciphertext was encrypted using a pigpen cipher.

I became aware of this story and the ciphertexts by one of Klaus Schmeh's blog posts, who is a German crypto expert and blogger and also a good friend of mine.

Curious? Read the blog post under: https://scienceblogs.de/klausis-krypto-kolumne/the-encrypted-letter-of-a-silent-movie-star/

I refer to the blog posts' comment section in the video, so if you are interested, check the German version of the blog article: https://scienceblogs.de/klausis-krypto-kolumne/2021/04/23/der-verschluesselte-brief-eines-stummfilm-stars/

If you are interested in learning the fundaments of cryptology, let me invite you to have a look at our video series about the basics of cryptology, also for beginners: https://youtu.be/jbumW7Ym03o

You can download the latest version of CrypTool 2 from here: https://www.cryptool.org/en/ct2/downloads

Here is my own transcription of the letter:

Page 1:
TMAZ VMAOO EBAOO UHS, UHS
THPBLR LSO GAP. UHS ARC VZAPK.
EPD HP ZEC VCZ PHV ZMC. EKHO
HL AP AKHREPD BHGQAPU
UHS MAWC NSVZ BHGC
HWCR AGK QSZ UHSR BHAZ HPGY
BMAER - EOHSC ZEC LCCO HL EZ -
UHSRV ETAPZ ZH DH ATAU TEZM UHS.
SQ EP VMC MEOO V HR AHUTMCRC
NSVZ VH TCK JL AOHPC. AOO
AOHPC EH A JCASZEBSO OEHZOC
THHKOAHK OHKDC UHSB JC BHHF
(AV E KAJ HPOU GAFC ZCV).APK
LCZBM VMC TAZCR AHK JSEOK
ZMC LERC THSOBPV EZ JC DOHREHSV
ZH VEZ HP A JED BHGLU BHSCM JU
A BHUU TJRG LERC TEZM ZMCTEPK
TMEVZOEPD HBZ VEKC ZRUEPG VH,
MAR GHPEVC TEZM ZMC LAEPZ VLCCZ
VZH AEPV HC GSVEB BHGEPD LIHG
HSR WEBZRHOA. AHK ZMCPUHSK MAWCZH
DCZ SQ APK ZAFC HLL VMCRCBQXK.
HL BHSR VC EKPPZ GCAP
ZMAC KCAR KEK UHS RCAOOU VSQQGVC
E EAZCPKCK UHS ZH ZAFC AAIC HLGC

Page 2:
OEFC A J AJUG HD GH LHR VDEV EV
GU Q AIV EB VTCCQ AJK BSVZTZMCU
GAFC ZMB VTCCZCVZ OE. ZOC KSVZ BAHV
UHS FPHT) APK ZEC LRCVE REJJHPVHP
ZEC VPHTU TMEZC BSR Z AEPV APK
BCCK ZMC JERKV APB CET VDC
CFHTCHV - APK - HM UCV, VCZ ZDC
ZAJFC APK MCOQ UHS TA VD ZMC KEVMCV
JPK ZMC P, EP GU VQARC ZEGC, EK
KARG UHSR VHBFV
E VSEEHVC TC BHSOK HPOU
DH ZMCRC JCZTCCP QEBZSRCV AHK
UHSK JC THRFEPD HPV VBREQZ CHR
VMC PCXZ, VH E K MAWC WH OCAWC UHS
CHR ATMEOL EP UHSR VZSKU. TCOO.
VMCP EK DH VH GS RQHG AJK QSZ HP
VHGCZMEPD VHLZ AHK LOH CEPD. VDCP
EK OEC HP ZMC BHSBM AHK VAEP LHR
UHS, E GEDJZ LAOO AVOCCQ. CHI ACERC
AOTAUV GAFCV GC KRHTVU. VMCPEK
T ACC ZHLEPK VTH AED VVRHPD AIGV
ARHS HK GC APK ZTH KCAR OEQV QRCVVCK
HP GEPC QP A OHPD. VTCCZ FEVV

Видео Let's Decipher a Letter of the Silent Film Star Mary Miles Minter канала Cryptography for Everybody