The man who was acknowledged by Williams in 1982 as having solved the puzzle of Masquerade turned out to be the boyfriend of a former partner of Williams, acting under a pseudonym. Needless to say, he hadn't solved the puzzle at all; the girlfriend simply remembered enough of what Williams had told her, to enable him to draw a rough sketch that amazingly was enough to convince Williams.
As someone who was completely caught up in the Masquerade phenomenon (I still have my copy of the book), I have to say that I felt completely cheated – not only when I heard the alleged solution (which IMHO no one would have ever discovered in a million years) but by the revelation of the treasure's hiding place – not in some remote location, far from human habitation, but just outside a cosy, affluent commuter town in the Home Counties.
Bitter … me? No, I'm over it now – honest!
The hare was auctioned at Sotheby's (Wikipedia doesn't say who by) in December 1988, selling for £31,900 to an anonymous buyer. Williams himself went there to bid, but dropped out at £6,000.
Wikipedia has a very full account of the whole affair – including the treasure hunt, the alleged solution, and the scandal that ensued.
© Haydn Thompson 2017