Captain Haddock home, Marlinspike Hall (or "Moulinsart" in the original French). Harry Thompson, author of "Tintin: Hergé and his creation", writes that the introduction of this large and luxurious country house was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: "Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts Jolyon Wagg and his dreadful family)." As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends,
Tintin and the Picaros to go alone. Once there, the Captain and Professor are taken to a rural villa, where they are closely monitored by the security services. Tintin joins his friends a few days later, where he points out to Haddock and Calculus that their villa is bugged. He recognises one of the staff as Pablo, a man who had saved his life in "The Broken Ear". From Pablo, Tintin learns that the entire scenario is a plot organised by Colonel Sponsz, a figure in the Bordurian military who is assisting Tapioca's government in order to gain revenge against Tintin for the events