The Sunday Times alleged that while living with Williams, Robertson had learned the approximate physical location of the hare, while remaining ignorant of the proper solution to the book's master riddle. After supposedly finding out from Robertson that the hare was in Ampthill, Guard and two assistants were said to have started searching for it using metal detectors. After searching for some time with no success, they drew a crude sketch of the location, which Thompson then submitted to Williams as "Thomas", and it was this that Williams acknowledged as the first correct answer.

Williams was shocked to discover the scandal and is quoted as saying:

"This tarnishes Masquerade and I'm shocked by what has emerged. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to all those many people who were genuinely looking for it. Although I didn't know it, it was a skeleton in my cupboard and I'm relieved it has come out."

Thompson founded a software company called "Haresoft", and offered the jewel as a prize to a new contest which took the form of this game, The company and its game (which many believe to be unsolvable with only meaningless text and graphics), were unsuccessful, yielding no winner.

Robertson has always maintained her innocence in the matter, insisting that she never knew the location of the jewel or even which part of the world it had been buried. Robertson says she had never wanted to know the location of it and was very shocked and upset, not only by the accusations made against her but also by the way she was treated and misquoted by the press at the time.

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