Tintin and the Picaros series "The Adventures of Tintin" by Ellipse and Nelvana. Tintin and his dog Snowy visit their friends Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus at Marlinspike Hall. There, they learn that Bianca Castafiore, her maid Irma, pianist Igor Wagner and the detectives Thomson and Thompson have been imprisoned in San Theodoros for allegedly attempting to overthrow the military government of General Tapioca. Tapioca's government have further alleged that the plot was masterminded by Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus themselves. Tapioca invites the trio to visit San Theodores, promising them safe passage, but Tintin deems it to be a trap, leaving Haddock and Calculus
Tintin and the Lake of Sharks away to raise the alarm. The criminals take advantage of the guards' absence by putting a fake pearl, the same size as the real one, in the shell. When the guards return with the director and the director sees the fake pearl, he thinks the guards were making it up, but then has second thoughts about the incident as a similar case happened at another museum two weeks before. Meanwhile, Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock arrive in Syldavia, a country in the Balkans. They have come to join their friend professor Cuthbert Calculus who has rented a villa near a