We imagine him with a mustache, wearing a brown trench coat, a wooden pipe in his mouth… The private detective. From Miss Marple to Hercule Poirot via Detective Conan, we all have our own image of this shadow investigator who knows, better than anyone, how to solve mysteries. But who is he really when you turn off the screen?

In everyday life, the private detective collects information for legal or strategic purposes. Antoine Senex, with twenty years in the business, told us the main qualities to have when you want to be a private detective. Check out 5 in our slideshow below.

Antoine Senex is the founder and director of the investigative firm SENEX Private detective. “The firm claims to be multidisciplinary and intervenes in different fields of activity: the collection of strategic information intended for business leaders, the fight against counterfeiting and unfair competition and in assistance with the recovery of debts through investigations of heritage”, he explains. Although it mainly works on behalf of professionals, the firm is also called upon to intervene in divorce cases.

Naturally, the typical day of a private detective depends on the orientation he has given to his firm.

“If he focused on field investigations such as unfair competition or adultery, the detective will spend almost all of his day in the field carrying out surveillance or spinning. The next day, he writes his investigation report from the notes and photos taken during the day”, says Antoine Senex. These missions are particularly difficult, as the expert points out, because the private detective never knows when his day is over: “It all depends on his target’s schedule,” he insists.

On the other hand, if the firm is more specialized in seated investigations, then “the investigator will spend most of his day in his office collecting and analyzing numerous documents, using various databases and writing his reports for his clients” . At your magnifying glasses, get set, go!