Tintin also meets detectives Thomson and Thompson on a secret mission looking out for a pickpocket however, both their wallets are repeatedly stolen throughout the story. Two strangers, model ship collector Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine and antique-scout Barnaby, independently try and fail to persuade Tintin to sell the model to them. While browsing on the Brussels Voddenmarkt/ Marché aux puces at the Vossenplein in the Marollen, Tintin purchases an antique model ship which he intends to give to his friend, Captain Haddock. The story was adapted for the 1957 Belvision animated series Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, the 1991 Ellipse/ Nelvana animated series The Adventures of Tintin, the 1992-3 BBC Radio 5 dramatisation of the Adventures, the feature film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) directed by Steven Spielberg, and the film's tie-in video game. The Secret of the Unicorn remained Hergé's favourite of his own works until creating Tintin in Tibet (1960). Hergé concluded the arc begun in this story with Red Rackham's Treasure, while the series itself became a defining part of the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. The Secret of the Unicorn was a commercial success and was published in book form by Casterman shortly after its conclusion.

To unravel the riddle, Tintin and Haddock must obtain three identical models of Sir Francis's ship, the Unicorn, but they discover that criminals are also after these model ships and are willing to kill in order to obtain them.

The story revolves around young reporter Tintin, his dog Snowy, and his friend Captain Haddock, who discover a riddle left by Haddock's ancestor, the 17th century Sir Francis Haddock, which could lead them to the hidden treasure of the pirate Red Rackham. The story was serialised daily in Le Soir, Belgium's leading francophone newspaper, from June 1942 to January 1943 amidst the Nazi German occupation of Belgium during World War II. The Secret of the Unicorn (French: Le Secret de La Licorne) is the eleventh volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.

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