# M. Massiban — The Hollow Needle character guide

> M. Massiban in The Hollow Needle by Maurice Leblanc.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Massiban, this elderly Massiban

**First appearance:** 0005-vi-an-historic-secret

## Snapshot

An elderly expert whose historical learning helps Beautrelet read the old Norman coast as a map of royal secrets.

## Who they are

Massiban belongs to the world of archives and erudition that Beautrelet must consult when deduction alone runs out, an elderly authority on the deep history of the Havre estuary and the old centres of French power. He represents the patient, documentary side of the investigation, the counterweight to the boy's flashes of reasoning. Through such expertise the Hollow Needle stops being merely a hiding-place and becomes a key to centuries of conquest, shelter, and hoarded treasure.

## Relationships

### [Isidore Beautrelet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters/isidore_beautrelet)

_professional_

Massiban, an archivist, collaborates with Beautrelet by providing historical clues about the Hollow Needle.

### [Arsène Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters/arsene_lupin)

_professional_

Lupin interacts with Massiban, using the archivist's knowledge to further his own plans.

### [Isidore Beautrelet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters/isidore_beautrelet)

_professional_

Massiban, an archivist, collaborates with Beautrelet by providing historical clues about the Hollow Needle.

### [Arsène Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters/arsene_lupin)

_professional_

Lupin interacts with Massiban, using the archivist's knowledge to further his own plans.

## In the story

### [VII: The Treatise of the Needle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/chapters/vii-the-treatise-of-the-needle)

Provides Beautrelet with a passage from Voltaire's manuscript linking Louis XIV to the Larbeyrie affair.

### [From Caesar to Lupin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/chapters/viii-from-caesar-to-lupin)

Mentioned as having found the pamphlet by accident, similar to Lupin.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters/m_massiban
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hollow_needle_se/characters