The Hollow Needle is to Arsène Lupine what the Château d'If is to the Count of Monte Cristo.
Since September 11, the letter "D" engraved at the request of Maurice Leblanc in the Chambre des Demoiselles, the entrance to the cave of the Aiguille d'Étretat which would lead to the fabulous treasure of the Capetians, has disappeared body and property.
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This disturbing disappearance was noted on September 21 by the vice-president of the association of friends of Arsène Lupine, Patrick Gueulle.
He was accompanying a television crew that day preparing a documentary on the tourist attractions of the Normandy coast.
Very worried, the latter immediately contacted the mayor of Étretat who told him that a guide had already reported this mischief to him on September 11.
And the city councilor immediately added that he would do everything, as soon as possible, so that the famous Aiguille finds this "D" which greatly contributes to its legend.
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A Demoiselle de Fréfossé ...
Wishing that the fruits of his imagination become reality, Maurice Leblanc had asked a mason in 1927 to engrave the letters D and F in the rock at the entrance of the said Chambre des Demoiselles. According to biographies and other exegetes of the Lupine gesture, these two consonants would be the initials of the Demoiselle de Fréfossé, the first clues that would allow us to go back to the hiding place of the fortune amassed by the kings of France.
Now it is a question of who is the author of this bad joke. Is this vandalism? The act of a TV series madman inspired by the last gentleman-burglar to date, Omar Sy aka the elusive Assane Diop? Or that of an enlightened person who believes perhaps that he holds with this giant D, the key to the treasure of the Hollow Needle. Or an involuntary degradation?
“This summer, there were ten times more tourists than usual. The letter may have slipped, due to the overcrowding of the place, ”
explains Patrick Gueulle to our colleagues in
Paris-Normandy.
Basically, a real enigma in the manner of the greatest thief.
Who stole the letter D from the Hollow Needle?
Le Figaro
gives you two clues by offering you to watch extracts from the two most famous television series devoted to Arsène Lupine, with Omar Sy and, of course, the immense Georges Descrières.
Lupine
by George Kay and François Uzan
with Omar Sy in 2021
Arsène Lupine
by Jacques Nahum with Georges Descrières in 1971