After some thought and a couple of bottles of expensive Corton-Charlemagne, he realized that there were not two messages but one, and that by reversing the order in which he read the mousetraps the message ran:
      "Stranger! If the Goblins seek the Ngorongoro, you would know of the Labyrinth. Old Man of the Crater." But the meaning still proved elusive.
      Firstly, why address the reader as "Stranger!" at the beginning of the message, and then as "Old Man of the Crater" at the end? Secondly, if the pot had indeed been left by a foregoblin, the foregoblin would have known that the pot was going to be found by Froud and not by an "Old Man of the Crater." Fourthly, what was the Ngorongoro, and why should the goblins seek it? And thirdly, why would the "Old Man of the Crater" get to know about the Labyrinth (whatever that was) only if the goblins should seek the Ngorongoro?
      Frustrated and confused, Froud continued to puzzle over the cryptic message for glass after glass. Two extremely expensive bottles of Gevrey-Chambertin and a couple of cases of slightly less expensive but still pricey Pernand-Vergelesses* later, he was still no nearer a solution. Finally he sank into a slumber from which he was to awaken next morning with a cry of "Ekaeur!" (He had meant to cry "Eureka!" but the second case of Pernand-Vergelesses had taken its toll.) During his sleeping hours a thought of breathtaking brilliance had seeped through to his brain. Leaping slowly and carefully out of bed, Froud staggered across to the two mousetraps and with shaking hands (of course) placed them side by side. He had done it! The message suddenly became clear. It read:

Stranger! If
the Goblins
seek the
Ngorongoro		 you would know
of the Labyrinth
Old Man of the
Crater

Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before? (Pretty obvious really, considering most decent white burgundies are about 13 percent in alcoholic strength by volume....) The Ngorongoro Crater was a world-famous landmark and nature reserve, which had been declared a conservation area in 1956. Its grass plains and mountainous moorlands, interspersed by thornbush and rain forest, are the haunt of rhinoceros, elephant, buffalo, leopard, mountain reedbuck, and giant forest hog.




* Pernand-Vergelesses: One of the lesser known appellations from the Côte de Beaune. Pernand produces mainly red wines with an excellent reputation, but it also produces some of the delicate white wines favoured by Froud.

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