Putting on my detective's hat, I proceeded to ask him some questions.
What does "putting my detective's hat" mean?
Can it be paraphrased as "when I put on my detective's hat"?
Am I a real detective or do I pretend to be a detective?
Learn English – What does “put on one’s hat” mean
meaning-in-context
Best Answer
In English, the idiom "wears many hats" means to have many roles or responsibilities. For example,
means that this person has many roles in life (a doctor, a musician, and a writer). The 'hat' is synonymous with 'job' in such expressions.
Therefore, "Putting on my detective's hat" means that the person stepped into the role of detective. That's not to say that the person is a real detective - that depends on the context of the passage - but it means the person started asking questions, as a detective would.