Tintin is visited in India by a Chinese gentleman who brings him a message. Then, an unseen marksman throws a poisonous dart right into his neck. The only clue Tintin receives from the now mad messenger is that there are problems in Shanghai related to a man named Mitsuhirato.

Philipp wishes to give his terminally ill father Walter one last treat. To coax him out of his hospital bed he tells a white lie: Philipp pretends that his father has won the lottery.

Plucky young Lotte embarks on an adventure with her uncle Klaus to solve the mystery of three stones that a pair of hooded figures are attempting to retrieve.