Plot
While Western Europe suffered for several months from weather disasters, Mortimer arrives in Paris to meet his French friend meteorologist Professor Labrousse. In a taxi that takes him to Gare des Invalides through the Royal Street, Mortimer and the driver witness a serious accident caused by a blue Ford Custom. Then at the station of Versailles - Rive Gauche, a taxi sent by Labrousse and led by a certain Ernest takes him to the destination, the teacher's house in Jouy-en-Josas.
However, on the road, the headlights of the car failed while the black night fell. Fortunately, a postman named Louis offers them to follow him, but ends after a few minutes. Ernest confused the headlights of the postal truck with those of the Blue Custom. The excessive speed of the car bandits causes an accident with the taxi that plunged it into a pond. Ernest then tries to find relief, Mortimer falls in the water and narrowly escapes drowning. Having reached the mainland, hitchhiking allows him to reach his destination. There, after reports of his adventures to his friend, he gives his hypothesis about the causes of climate events: having noticed that only Western Europe is affected by these disasters, he deduces that it is the work of enemies of the West and not from nature.
The next day, the two characters learn of the police that the taxi was found in Étang de la Geneste [ fr ] and Ernest was not found. Mortimer, Labrousse and he then travel to a place where people are mysterious. Mortimer then identifies the blue Ford Custom prowlers hear the Rue Royale. Then, after a brief investigation, he discovers that the accident could not have happened in Geneste Pond and therefore concludes that someone sought to move the location of the accident. He finally discovers that the taxi returned to the park at Troussalet Castle. There, he recognizes the pond of the accident, before being kidnapped by masked men.
The next day in Paris, at the Ministry of the Interior, Blake helps Commissioner Pradier, head of the DST, to struggle against a foreign spy network operating in France. While studying the letter of the Paris headquarters of the Swedish firm Scandinavia, whose leader is a Per Enrik Quarnstron, he discovered a microfilm hidden in the header. It is the Professor Labrousse who translates the code. Indeed, this message is simply a weather report which promises significant disruption for the evening. All of this reinforces the theory of Mortimer. If Labrousse came, it was to talk to Blake about Mortimer's mysterious disappearance.
Blake and Labrousse then leave for Jouy-en-Josas but first go to Labrousse's apartment at Vaugirard Street. They then meet the Swedish neighbor Labrousse, Mr. Henry, very embarrassed when he learns that Labrousse thought he saw his Custom near Geneste pond. Then Blake and Labrousse arrive at Jouy-en-Josas where Blake, discovering that the phone and the car were sabotaged, seeing a blue Custom is parked outside the house and learning that Mr. Henry's real name is Per Enrik Quarnstron, concluded that Mr. Henry is head of the network of spies and that the occupants of the Custom will do everything to prevent them from contacting Paris. Blake initially tries to join the station Jouy but having been spotted by Sharkey and Freddy, the occupants of the Custom, he steals the postal truck of Louis and a great pursuit between Peugeot and American car in which the Police will also participate then begins. Finally, Blake takes the train to Massy Palaiseau and it's on the train and then the subway that the pursuit continues. Blake manages to elude his pursuers and returned in Mr. Henry's apartment, who is none other than Olrik. Sharkey and Freddy are there and Blake leaves. Then it was the turn of Olrik, Sharkey and Freddy being sued because Pradier and his men arrive at Vaugirard Street, but the three robbers manage to escape through the roof thanks to significant disturbances predicted by the code.
After returning to the ministry, Blake, Pradier and Labrousse intercept a new coded message: a large fog will cover the entire Western Europe in two days, perfect weather for an invasion. The DST therefore has two days to find Olrik. Meanwhile, at Troussalet Castle, the network center, Mortimer was presented to Professor Miloch Georgevitch who shows him the command center of a weather station on the Cirrus network. Miloch explains that while this station and all those of the Cirrus network decide the weather on Western Europe for months and explain the process. Then Mortimer is back to his cell where he will await his deportation to the foreign power is behind it all.
Two days later, on the 13th, Blake finally discovered that the network center was the Troussalet Castle and friends leave the ministry when they discover that the fog has become stultifying. Blake, Pradier and a few men, all equipped with gas masks, thus moving towards the castle and reach Satory, where soldiers who are protected too, join them. Meanwhile, Mortimer found Ernest, who was also captured. Together they escape and accidentally trigger the self-destruction of the base. They then managed to leave the castle and find Blake, Pradier and others. Since the station 001 at Troussalet Castle is the central station of the Cirrus network, the fog disappears and Western Europe is saved. The whole gang, including Olrik, was captured, only Miloch is missing.
The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as quinzième.
Blake and Mortimer is a Belgian comics series created by the Belgian writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin in 1946, and was subsequently published in book form by Les Éditions du Lombard.
Jouy-en-Josas is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris, 16.4 km (10.2 mi) from the center of Paris.
The Time Trap by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs was the ninth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series. It appeared in book format in 1962.
The Yellow "M" by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs is the sixth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series. It was first published in Tintin magazine between 6 August 1953 and 3 November 1954 and later appeared in book form in 1956.
The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Volume 1: Manetho's Papyrus by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs was the fourth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series, first published in Tintin magazine from March 23, 1950 to February 21, 1951. It appeared in book format in 1954.
The Necklace Affair by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs was the tenth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series.
The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Volume 2: The Chamber of Horus by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs was the fifth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series, first published in Tintin magazine.
Professor Sató's 3 Formulae, Volume 2: Mortimer vs. Mortimer was the twelfth book in the Blake and Mortimer series. It was started by Edgar P. Jacobs but after his death, completed by Bob de Moor, and was finally published in 1990.
The Francis Blake Affair was the thirteenth Blake and Mortimer book and the first one not to be written by Edgar P. Jacobs. It was published in 1996.
The Voronov Plot is the fourteenth book in the Blake and Mortimer comic book series. It was released in 2000.
The Strange Encounter is the fifteenth book in the Blake and Mortimer series created by Edgar P. Jacobs. Published in 2001, it was written by Jean Van Hamme and drawn by Ted Benoit who had already contributed to the series with The Francis Blake Affair in 1996. Whereas that book dealt with espionage, this story combines elements of detective and science fiction of the sort present in Jacobs' original stories.
The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent, Volume 1: The Universal Threat is the sixteenth Blake and Mortimer book in the series.
The Curse of the Thirty Denarii is the nineteenth Blake and Mortimer book in the series. The story was written by Jean Van Hamme. Its completion was delayed with the death of the artist, René Sterne, on 15 November 2006. The book was completed by Sterne's girlfriend Chantal de Spiegeleer and was released on 20 November 2009.
The Gondwana Shrine is the eighteenth Blake and Mortimer comic book in the series. The book was published in France and Belgium on March 28, 2008.
Buc is a commune in the Yvelines department and Île-de-France region of north central France.
The Plateau de Saclay, also called Silicon Valley Européenne, is located north of Essonne and south-east of Yvelines, 20 km south of Paris. It is bounded by the valley of the Yvette to the south and east, and the valley of the Bièvre to the north.
The Oath of the Five Lords is the twenty-first Blake and Mortimer book in the series. The story was written by Yves Sente. The book was drawn by André Juillard and was released on the 16 November 2012.
The Septimus Wave is the twenty-second book in the Blake and Mortimer series. It is written by Jean Dufaux, illustrated by Antoine Aubin and Etienne Schréder and released in 2013. The book is a sequel to The Yellow "M" and deals with Colonel Olrik's past with Septimus.
The Testament of William S. is the twenty-fourth album of the comic series Blake and Mortimer, written by Yves Sente and drawn by André Juillard, based on the characters created by Edgar P. Jacobs.
