Sofia Belkacem

Sofia Belkacem is a major character in the French thriller series Lupin. She is portrayed by Shirine Boutella.

A lieutenant in the police department, Belkacem often works together with Romain Laugier and Youssef Guédira.

Part 1
Belkacem is one of the police officers assigned to the case of the Queen's Necklace. She is involved when Juliette Pellegrini calls for assistance after receiving Assane’s anonymous note, posing as a jogger. Later, Juliette mocks Belkacem for taking notes while Captain Laugier is attempting to question her.



While Belkacem treats Youssef Guédira with respect, she still thinks that his theory about the connection between the crimes they are investigating and the Arsène Lupin stories is frivolous nonsense. She participates in the search for Commissioner Dumont after his kidnapping; although initially reluctant to believe Guédira’s notion that he is still at the town hall, she and Laugier choose to follow his hunch and find that he is right.

Along with Laugier and Guédira, Belkacem presents Dumont with the idea that his kidnapper and the Louvre thief are the same person, pointing out that he had overseen the original case of the necklace theft in 1995. Dumont allows them to begin gathering evidence, but after several facial reconstructions are made, he claims that none of them look like his kidnapper and tells them that the two cases are unconnected. Belkacem, like Guédira, suspects that Dumont is lying, but unlike him is not willing to follow through on the lead, particularly not after Dumont removes Guédira from the case entirely.

On December 11th, Guédira tells Belkacem that he will not be coming into the station, claiming to be sick. Belkacem remarks to Laugier that Guédira always looks sick. She and Laugier want to investigate Léonard after they learn that he was found on the Le Havre train with one of the diamonds from the necklace, but before they get a chance, Dumont tells them that the Le Havre police have released Léonard after discovering convincing evidence that he has been framed.

Part 2


Shortly after being stopped by Dumont from going to Normandy, Belkacem receives a phone call from Guédira, who reveals that he is in the town of Bourneville with “Paul Sernine” and needs assistance. Belkacem is stunned; when Assane comes within earshot, Guédira, who has claimed that he is talking to his wife, awkwardly tells Belkacem that he loves her and hangs up. Although confused, Belkacem leaves Paris and drives into the countryside, tracking the location of Guédira’s phone.

Belkacem arrives at the abandoned mansion where Léonard was holding Raoul hostage just as, unbeknownst to her, Guédira and Raoul are leaving in Assane's stolen car. Assane still has Guédira’s phone, and as such Belkacem is able to locate him. She finds him wailing in distress in front of Léonard's burning BMW and claiming that his son is inside; convinced that he is simply performing another elaborate stunt, Belkacem arrests him immediately.



The following morning, Belkacem calls several Gendarmerie officers in for assistance. When they examine the remains of the burned car, they find nothing but a can in the trunk. Additionally, there is no sign of Guédira. Sitting in a squad car with Assane and a Gendarmerie officer named Hector, Belkacem is irritated by Assane’s constant pleas for information as to what she found in the burned trunk. Finally becoming fed up, she holds up a plastic bag containing the can, yelling that it was the only thing that was there. Assane is immensely relieved, as this proves to him that Raoul is still alive.

Belkacem orders Hector to stop at a service station to fill up the car’s tank. Assane, having fully regained his composure, tells Belkacem that he needs to use the bathroom. Belkacem orders him to hold it in, but Assane tells her that he is unable to do so. A frustrated Belkacem agrees to let Assane enter the bathroom, ordering Hector to keep a close eye on him. While paying, Belkacem becomes aware that Assane is in the process of stealing a car and shooting one of her own tires. After finding Hector handcuffed to a pipe in the bathroom, she tries to chase after Assane, but he successfully escapes.

Some time later, Belkacem and Laugier interrogate Hubert Pellegrini after his wife reports his crimes of fraud and framing Babakar. Initially, Hubert is somewhat uncooperative with regards to their questioning, but when the conversation turns to the identity of “Paul Sernine,” he immediately supplies them with Assane's full name. Hubert is again not forthcoming when Laugier and Belkacem ask him about Léonard. At this point, Hubert receives a phone call from Albert Fontan, the minister of the interior, which forces the police to let him go.

Now knowing Assane’s name, Guédira and Belkacem bring Claire in for questioning. Claire claims that she does not know where Assane lives, which both Belkacem and Guédira struggle to believe. They ask Claire about the men encountered by Guédira and Raoul outside of her apartment; Claire denies having any knowledge of who they were, and states that she is just happy to have her son back.



Shortly afterward, however, Belkacem acquires Assane’s address via an anonymous phone call placed by Pascal Oblet. Upon arriving, they discover Léonard’s lifeless body on the ground, as well as Assane's large collection of Lupin memorabilia. Assane himself is nowhere to be found. Belkacem tells Laugier that she had managed to arrest Assane in Normandy, but that he had escaped. In the aftermath of Léonard’s murder, Belkacem compliments Guédira, pointing out that he had been right about everything. Guédira, however, is unhappy, explaining that Arsène Lupin never kills and that this has compromised the logic of his theory.

Dumont sends Belkacem and Laugier to Benjamin Ferel’s shop to collect evidence. While there, Belkacem finds a card with the address of a storage unit. When the two officers arrive on the scene and manage to enter the unit, they find that Assane and Benjamin have already fled through a secret underground passage. Belkacem and Laugier decide to follow them, and find themselves confronted with dark alleys filled with piles of bones, which unnerve Belkacem. Eventually, the two encounter a tour group and realize that they are in the Catacombs of Paris. Laugier calls for assistance and all visitors are cleared from the site, but the police are unable to catch Assane and Benjamin.

The next day, Belkacem receives news that Léonard’s murderer wore a size 42 shoe, too small for Assane, whose is size 46. Immediately afterward, Guédira shows Belkacem and Laugier footage of Assane’s questioning of Dumont. Conversing in the interrogation room, the three examine the evidence and conclude that Dumont has engaged in illegal conspiracy and corruption. They agree to attend the Pellegrinis’ charity concert in order to arrest their commissioner.



Laugier, Belkacem and Guédira gain access to the Théâtre du Châtelet after demonstrating that they are police officers. Once inside, Laugier keeps a close eye on Dumont. When he sees Dumont leaving in the middle of the performance, he and the other two officers follow him discreetly, eventually encountering him pointing a gun at Assane. The three ambush Dumont, and Laugier places him in handcuffs. Belkacem orders Assane to stay where he is, but Guédira encourages her to let him go.

After the concert is finished, Belkacem and Guédira grin at each other as they watch Dumont and Hubert--the latter of whom Guédira has arrested based on a recorded confession sent to him by Assane--being driven to the police station.

Personality and relationships


Of the three officers on the team trying to track down the Queen's Necklace, Belkacem is quickest to jump into action in any given situation, complementing Laugier’s emphasis on rules, protocol and rank, as well as Guédira’s more theoretical outlook. However, she struggled in her pursuit of Assane, as she was often unable to anticipate his movements.

Belkacem tends to be blunt, confrontational, cynical, and quick to anger. She has an aggressive questioning style, seen clearly in her behavior during the interrogation of Hubert. Possibly due to the fact that she had Assane in custody in Normandy before he eventually escaped, Belkacem was highly determined to arrest him, even after she was aware of his innocence regarding Léonard’s murder. However, when the officers cornered Assane at the Pelleginis’ concert, she let Assane go at Guédira's urging.

As a lieutenant, Belkacem ranks below Laugier (a captain) but above Guédira (a detective). As such, she has good working relationships with both of them. Belkacem and Guédira appear to be particularly close; she was the one whom he texted to mention that he was sick on the day of the Arsène Lupin festival in Étretat, and he eventually called her to ask for assistance after he found Assane there. As Guédira had claimed to Assane that he was talking to his wife, he was forced to tell Belkacem that he loved her, which she found odd. Although Belkacem initially disdained Guédira’s ideas about the Arsène Lupin connection, she eventually admitted that he was right about everything,

Appearances

 * Part One


 * Chapter 2
 * Chapter 3
 * Chapter 4
 * Chapter 5


 * Part Two


 * Chapter 6
 * Chapter 7
 * Chapter 9
 * Chapter 10

Quotes
"What’s it going to be next? D’Artagnan or the three little pigs?"

- Belkacem comments on Guedira's theories

Trivia

 * In Parts 1 & 2, Belkacem is depicted with prominent blonde streaks in her naturally dark brown hair. These are absent in Part 3.