Profiling

First of all, there may be no answer to the question—What is the secret of The Secret? You can’t find something that isn’t there. The book doesn’t explicitly say there’s a secret in addition to the casque locations—but the title certainly does suggest there’s something, some deeper mystery. 

When profiling a serial killer it’s valuable to know as much as possible about his personal history, but most importantly you want to learn the details surrounding his first kill. It provides unique insight into his motives, goals, and state of mind. It’s a key piece of information, typically the most important piece, when trying to predict future behavior. If we were to profile Byron in hopes of understanding the secret of The Secret, we must get to know him, and then examine his first piece of professional literary work. 

From interviews with people who knew him well, we learn that Byron was an avid reader, eccentric, a promoter of early childhood reading, funny, and very religious. Universally, Byron was described as a good friend, a good parent, a good person, and a joy to be around. Here is an excerpt from his death notice appearing in the New York Times July 11, 2005:

A friend of the first and finest order, a sartorial and literary figure extraordinaire, a collector of art, books and outrageous ties, will always be remembered for his generous and embracing nature. Funny and serious, creative and intellectual, Byron was known for his colorful wardrobe, his deep interest in science and history, his commitment to Jewish charitable organizations, and the daily whimsical calls and text messages he sent his closest friends.

What we can learn from various biographies is that Byron’s father immigrated from Austria; his mother was born in New York City; and Byron was born in and grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a master's degree in communications from Stanford University. In 1971 while working as an elementary school teacher, he produced an anti-drug comic book called The Block that was distributed to schools nationwide. This detail is key because it was his first project and a very successful one. It speaks volumes about what we can expect from Byron. Clearly, he wanted to use his superpowers for good! 

In 1974 Byron started his own publishing company. He packaged and published books for numerous popular science fiction writers including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clark. He also worked as an editor and author, winning an Ink Pot award in 1977. His most famous book being DragonWorld. He was also a pioneer in ebooks and digital publishing. We should expect the secret of The Secret to be consistent with his knowledge, skills, and values—and to relate in some fundamental way to his first project. 

Over the course of a year and a half, I studied all nine of the unsolved puzzles without so much as an inkling that the secret of The Secret even existed, let alone what it was. It wasn’t until I circled back trying to tie up loose ends that it finally slapped me in the face, presented itself to me in a very obvious way. When I first realized what it was, I was stunned, shocked, dumbfounded. But there it was, a whole additional level to the game that I’d completely missed, one that was even more convoluted, more complicated.