He was another foreigner who became the center of attention after the Louvre robbery. Man in fedora. Taken with three police officers in front of one of the entrances to Paris’ iconic museum, dressed in outfits inspired by 1930s inspectors or private detective characters that appeared a lot in the film noir era. The photo quickly spread throughout the world.
On Sunday, the American news agency Associated Press announced that they had found traces of the mysterious man. Who turns out to be neither an inspector nor a detective. Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux turned out to be a simple teenager, only 15 years old. The Internet’s favorite investigator is just a teenager who likes to get dirty.
This fan of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot lives with his parents and grandfather in Rambouillet, 30 kilometers from Paris. When he realized that the photo that made him famous had been viewed millions of times, he decided to keep his identity a secret. “I don’t want to outright say it’s me. This photo is shrouded in mystery, so we have to keep the suspense.”
He has fun following the many conspiracy theories floating around, especially the one that says he is actually a construct created by an AI. After some time, he finally published his Instagram account. “People should try to find out who I am.”
The story behind the photo is classic. Pedro, his mother and grandfather go to the capital to visit the largest museum in the world. “We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed. We didn’t know there was a robbery.”the boy told the AP. He asked the officer why the door was closed. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus photographed the child directly. “When the photo was taken, I don’t know. I was just passing by.”
Four days later, an acquaintance sent him a message: “Is that you?” “He told me there were 5 million views, chasing the teen star despite himself. I was amazed that one photo could go viral in a few days.” Shortly after, his mother called him to tell him she was inside New York Times. “Not every day.”
As for his unusual appearance, he says he started dressing like this less than a year ago, inspired by 20th-century black-and-white images of suited statesmen and fictional detectives. “I like being pretty. I went to school like that.” The famous Fedora is “his tribute to French Resistance hero Jean Moulin”. This is reserved for weekends and holidays.
At his school, his style has begun to be imitated. “One of my friends came this week with a tie”he assured. From now on, teenagers who don’t seem to lack humor, “Waiting for people to contact (him) to see the film. That would be really funny.” Regarding how to dress: “I will continue to dress like this. It’s my style.”
