one last interesting question surrounding the Louvre heist.

As posed by Marni Rose- McFall from Newsweek Magazine: Is a fedora-wearing French detective solving the heist? Social media certainly seems to think so, as an image of a so-called sleuth has gone viral online, with people online speculating that he is on the case to recover the jewels stolen in the brazen robbery.

The image of a young man, kitted out in a fedora, waistcoat, and tie, has fast circulated online. One post on X, from the writer and VP of Strategy Risks, Melissa Chen, read “Actual shot of a French detective working the case of the French Crown Jewels that were stolen from the Louvre in a brazen daylight robbery.” As of press time, the post has been viewed 2.9 million times.

 A separate post from social media influencer Ian Miles Cheong, viewed over 90,000 times, reads, “The man in the fedora, who looks like he came out of a detective film noir from the 1940s is an actual French police detective who’s investigating the theft of the Crown Jewels at the Louvre. Pure aesthetic.”

So, have the French authorities plucked a detective out of the 1940s to solve the heist?

The answer is no. The individual in the photo appears to be a very well-dressed and dapper passerby, but has no tangible connection to the investigation. Similar photos show other passersby in the area.

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“the secret of great style is to feel good in what you wear.” –

-Inès de La Fressange

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image credit: Thibault Camus, AP