Police became suspicious after finding a wire fence behind the bushes and, Grimm said, the man then "admitted he had made it all up as a cover story because he was afraid of his wife".

Then a little brown man appeared wearing wire-rimmed glasses. His face was as wrinkled as an old crocodile but his smile was a sweet as Patchouli.

The man sent a wire back saying, "Sell crabs, send the money; reset bait."