Arrests made in Louvre heist, but the story isn’t over

French agents have arrested persons in connection with last week s audacious Louvre heist last week s daylight robbery of the French Crown Jewels valued at more than million about million Prosecutors have not disclosed how countless people were detained or disclosed any identifying details only that the arrests mark a major breakthrough in the episode Investigators believe four people carried out the heist entering the museum during regular hours dressed as maintenance staff and escaping with the jewels in less than eight minutes The operation stunned France not just for its precision but for how it echoes familiar cinematic moments In film we know how this story goes From the Ocean s franchise to The Italian Job to France s own Netflix drama Lupin the charming thief wins our hearts outwits the system and vanishes into the night Or rather into the day in this particular event But this time the ending is messier The jewels are still missing the persons are in custody and the illusion of the perfect crime feels cracked There s a moment in first episode of the third season of Lupin when Assane Diop the gentleman thief audiences love walks through a crowd that once idolized him They cheer and whether it s for his arrest or for the theft he just pulled off is unclear To them it s all part of the show It s a haunting reminder that we don t just watch heists we romanticize them Now with the Louvre s treasures gone and real people facing real charges the question lingers were we ever cheering for the thieves or just for the story In a country that treats art as sacred inheritance maybe the true suspense isn t whether they ll get away Maybe it s whether France can protect what s priceless from even its majority admiring hands Read more about this topic The Louvre jewel heist requirements a better explanation than greed Smithsonian erases Trump s impeachments from history museum exhibit Dying thief gets no prison time for stealing Wizard of Oz ruby slippers from Judy Garland museum The post Arrests made in Louvre heist but the story isn t over appeared first on Salon com