 Tintin discovers a plane stranded in the Belgian countryside , offers to help , but is shot by the pilot . Tintin awakens in hospital , where the detectives Thomson and Thompson visit him . They inform him that the plane subsequently flew to Sussex , England , where it crashed . Tintin and Snowy proceed to Sussex , but along the way , two criminals frame Tintin for robbery . Arriving in England by ferry in Newhaven , the criminals kidnap Tintin and attempt to kill him over the cliffs of Seaford , but with Snowy 's help , he escapes . Discovering the plane wreckage , he finds a torn up note in the pilot 's jacket , and following the writing on it arrives at the estate of Dr. J. W. Müller , a German who owns a mental institution . Müller captures Tintin , but the young reporter again escapes . In a scuffle , Müller 's house catches ablaze and the criminals escape . 
