Internet enthusiasts are demanding a “nine-season TV series” or a “buddy cop movie” featuring a certain “French detective,” and no, it’s not Benoit Blanc (who, as per pop culture lore, isn’t French actually). Much like the Daniel Craig character hailing from Netflix, sleuths are often identified by their characteristic quirks and fashion aesthetics.

This month witnessed a real-life mystery break out in broad French daylight unlike any other in the contemporary world–the Louvre heist. In addition to the merely minutes-long, movie-like robbery transporting people back to the “1920s,” this week also introduced the world to a person people are now finding great joy in identifying as a “French detective” regardless of his actual nationality and profession.

With the October 19 robbery marking the first from the Louvre since 1998, endless streaks of speculations and discussions have pervaded social media. As visuals of Crown Jewels (what once were the popular museum’s pride) poured out after the Louvre lost them, another photo of police patrolling the area went viral on X. However, this was no ordinary snap. Decked out in sophisticated garb, a Fedora-wearing man, with an umbrella in his hands, stole the spotlight, thereby shifting the focus away from French authorities blocking the access to the Louvre in the pictured scene, while investigations continue in the background.

Everyone on X was more than convinced that the man-gone-viral was a “French detective working the case.” Given his attire and camera presence, social media users couldn’t be told otherwise, as they were positively baffled at the sight. They simply chose to believe that the individual had jumped straight out of a classic whodunnit novel or a Benoit Blanc-esque mystery to crack the case. But that was not to be.

Now we’ve solved the case of the ‘French detective’ for you!

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Who is the ‘French detective’ at the Louvre crime scene?

In addition to many speculating about the dapper man’s “detective” status, others wondered if he had simply been AI-generated. The latter belief originated from the sense that his presence as such a sharply-dressed individual just felt off, considering the other elements of the rather ordinary picture. However, that’s not the case either.

As it turns out, the man, who has since become the talk of the Internet, is actually real, just the like the much-contested pictured is. How do we know it? It’s because the snap’s origins trace back to the globally famous news outlet, the Associated Press. Created on October 19, the day of the Louvre heist, the photo distributed by AP was taken by photographer Thibault Camus. Even the “keyword lines” associated with the camera click, as listed on the AP Newsroom website, are “man,” “dapper,” and “dressed,” referring to the same person.

In an interview on Thursday, AP photog Thibault Camus confirmed that he didn’t know the man in the image he shot. “I don’t know if he is French. Maybe a tourist? Maybe he is English,” the New York Time quoted him, as he described his dressing style “old-fashioned like a museum can be.”

As is obviously the case, the unidentified man has, in fact, became the main character of the scene without even knowing it. The now titled “APTOPIX France Louvre” AP picture also catches two French policemen, who were donning their drab uniforms, eyeing the unexpectedly dapper passerby. Even the original official caption that goes along with the picture completely missed out on the man before the Internet blew up the issue.

The AP caption reads: “Police officers block an access to the Louvre museum after a robbery Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)”

How did the ‘French detective’ claims go viral

The man in the photo went viral on X after platform user Melissa Chen’s post highlighting his presence on the Louvre crime scene on October 19 went bonkers.

“Actual shot (not AI!) of a French detective working the case of the French Crown Jewels that were stolen from the Louvre in a brazen daylight robbery,” she wrote earlier this week. “Somehow he looks like he’s smoking even without a cigarette in his hand, but surely everything you know about life is screaming at you: this case is officially screwed!”

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Looking down on the man gone viral, she projected her own image of how the ideal detective on the case should be like. “To solve it, we need an unshaven, overweight, washed-out detective who’s in the middle of divorce. A functioning alcoholic who the rest of the department hates,” she added. “Never gonna crack it with a detective who wears an actual fedora unironically.”

Chen’s viral share spurred a conversation unlike any other, with many wishing to see the man, and this entire development, become the plot of an actual detective story.

“They will bring the grizzled vet you speak of onto the case. They will be forced to work together, even though the fancy cop will want to play it by the rules and the grizzled vet wants to bend the rule,” someone commented. “They will both learn a little about themselves in the process.” It even got Melissa wishing for the “ultimate buddy cop movie.”

A second person wrote, “Not joking when I say we need a nine-season TV series featuring this detective IMMEDIATELY.”

Another quipped, “I absolutely refuse to believe that this is a genuine French detective in the Year of Our Lord 2025. He looks like he should be helping Poirot track down the false identity of the man claiming to be the heir of Sir Giles Buxomley, in about 1932.”

A fourth chimed in, “Can’t wait for the movie of this whole situation.”