奇岩城 (1909)

《奇岩城》（法语：L'Aiguille creuse）是法国作家莫理斯·卢布朗所著的小说，以怪盗亚森·罗宾为主角。1908年开始在法国杂志《无所不知》上连载；1909年6月出版。故事以法兰西王室历代密藏在白垩海岸的大石柱(外号‘空洞之针’)内的艺术品宝藏为目标。怪盗罗宾与高中生侦探易吉道。以及英国名侦探福尔摩斯展开一场斗智对决。

情节概要

杰佛尔伯爵宅上发生失窃案，其中一名嫌犯遭蕾梦小姐开枪打伤。正当警方对此案一筹莫展时，一名还是高中学生的少年侦探易吉道·伯特雷站出来，以缜密的推理解析了嫌犯们的做案手法，指出这是亚森·罗宾及其党羽所为。然而蕾梦小姐却在不久后失踪。

易吉道·伯特雷在查案过程中意外寻获一张写着奇怪符码的纸条，经过一番追查，他发现纸条实际上与法国王室的秘密有关，并暗指埃特达针岩。于是伯特雷前往埃特达针岩一探究竟，并连系了葛尼玛探长带警察来支援。在针岩内的密室，伯特雷遇见了亚森·罗宾与蕾梦小姐，发现他们俩已结为夫妻，虽然随后赶到的葛尼玛试图逮捕罗宾，但还是被对方躲过。

以秘密潜艇从海底逃离现场的罗宾，登岸后计划与新婚妻子蕾梦展开全新生活，然而英国名侦探夏洛克·福尔摩斯却已暗中追踪而来，蕾梦为保护罗宾而不幸命丧于福尔摩斯枪下……。

主要角色

易吉道·伯特雷 - 好管闲事，巴黎詹生塞利中学的高年级学生，以侦探自居。

亚森·罗宾 - 计划夺取法国王室历代存放于空洞之针内的艺术品宝藏，本作中以各种面目出现，有时是医生，有时是故事主角的配角友人，千变万化。

蕾梦 - 受其舅杰佛尔伯爵监护的美少女，杰佛尔伯爵之外甥女。

夏洛克·福尔摩斯 - 活力充沛的红面男子，来自英国的侦探。

葛尼玛探长 - 立誓逮捕罗宾归案，是罗宾的死对头。

菲尔法官 - 负责调查男爵宅邸窃案。

杰佛尔伯爵 - 因宅邸遭到神秘男子行窃及秘书意外被杀害一案，而遭菲尔法官审讯和质疑。

法卡隆秘书 - 遭神秘男子以短剑杀害。

The Hollow Needle is a novel by Maurice Leblanc featuring the adventures of the gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin. As with the preceding two volumes of the Arsène Lupin stories, this was first serialized in the French magazine Je sais tout from November 1908 to May 1909. The novel was released, with a few modifications, in June 1909.

Plot summary

Arsène Lupin is opposed this time by Isidore Beautrelet, a young but gifted amateur detective, who is still in high school but who is poised to give Arsène Lupin a big headache. In the Arsène Lupin universe, the Hollow Needle is the second secret of Marie Antoinette and Alessandro Cagliostro, the hidden fortune of the kings of France, as revealed to Arsène Lupin by Josephine Balsamo in the novel The Countess of Cagliostro (1924). The Mystery of the Hollow Needle hides a secret that the Kings of France have been handing down since the time of Julius Caesar... and now Arsène Lupin has mastered it. The legendary needle contains the most fabulous treasure ever imagined, a collection of queens' dowries, pearls, rubies, sapphires and diamonds... the fortune of the kings of France.

When Isidore Beautrelet discovers the Château de l'Aiguille in the department of Creuse, he thinks that he has found the solution to the riddle ("l'Aiguille Creuse" being French for "The Hollow Needle", and also the French title of the novel). However, he did not realize that the château was built by Louis XIV, the king of France, to put people off the track of a needle in Normandy, near the town of Le Havre, where Arsène Lupin, known also under the name of Louis Valméras, has hidden himself.

Sequels

A direct sequel to this novel, featuring Lupin against La Griffe, is the novel Le second visage d'Arsène Lupin by Boileau-Narcejac in 1975.

In the popular media

In January 2021, Netflix began streaming the Lupin (TV series) of five episodes; they take place in current times and feature fictional master thief Assane Diop. According to Rolling Stone (magazine), "both the show and the character of Assane take their inspiration from Arsène Lupin ... [the main character is given] a Lupin novel at a formative age, and Assane treats the Lupin stories as his own personal Bible [while performing] "spectacular crimes". The fifth episode of the series was filmed in and around the commune of Étretat where Maurice Leblanc owned a home which is now the Clos Lupin Museum.

Principal characters

Isidore Beautrelet, the boy detective

Mademoiselle Raymonde

Arsène Lupin

Examining magistrate Filleul

Ganimard, a French police detective

Louis Valméras

The Count of Gesvres

Holmlock Shears