"The black pearl" is a short story by Maurice Leblanc. Maurice Marie mile Leblanc (11 November 1864 - 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Ars ne Lupin, often described as a French counterpart to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes. Leblanc was born in Rouen, Normandy, where he was educated at the Lyc e Pierre Corneille. After studying...