Douglas resident David Brown and his wife Marilyn have found the Golden Queenie.
The final clue was buried beneath the sand on Peel beach.
‘We knew where it was months ago, to within 10 or 20m of the area,’ he said. ‘One of the clues was 39 steps, so we had to find the point that was 39 steps along the beach.
‘If it was five or 10 it would not be too bad, but with 39 the margin for error increases, and it was a certain distance from the sea wall.
‘We did not know what depth and were not quite sure what we were looking for. One of the big issues was the area where we were digging was covered with children and families, we could not go along and start digging. We used the grandchildren as cover very often.’
The moment when they discovered the buried box containing a clam shell painted gold was, David said: ‘A little bit of a let down in a sense – we had known for so long it was there. But it was exciting when we found it, it was great.’
The former teacher, who at one point was head at Scoill Vallajeelt, helped to set the curriculum for history and geography in the island, and this specialist knowledge helped to solve some clues.
He’s also interested in puzzles, but this challenge still required a lot of time and effort.
He said: ‘I have spent hundreds of hours on this, some of them trying to work out a clue and lying awake at night.’
Hi son Matthew and daughter-in-law Madeleine have also been involved in the search.
The grandchildren, Leah, aged three, Harry and River, both two, and Ellie, one, have also been an important – if unwitting - part of the story.
‘They did not have a clue they were decoys,’ explained David. ‘We thought occasionally “this person is definitely on the trail, pacing out the steps”. There were times we thought they were sitting in the place we would like to be sitting. But they could have been Americans on holiday.’
He said it was easy to be side-tracked by some clues.
‘We have been to Ballaugh plantation, on the beach in Port Erin, everywhere in the bay,’ David revealed. ‘You have certain thoughts in your mind and it is hard to discount them – you could interpret some in a way that was completely wrong and you think you are right. We were even looking in hanging baskets in Peel!’
Last year’s Golden Queenie conundrum – launched, as have been all the conundrums, during the Queenie Festival in July – was called off because after many months as no one had solved it, but David got very close.
‘We found the spot,’ he said. ‘We were looking for a lamp post in Port St Mary and searched all round. We never found a telephone number.’
He’ll store his treasure, worth around £4,000, in a very secure spot in an undisclosed location.
If there is another treasure hunt next year, he’ll be on the trail again.
‘We cannot wait until the next one,’ said David. ‘It always gives you a good reason for the grandchildren to go somewhere.’
