Chekhov MacGuffin

Vermouth who is currently Scar Akai this time around (Scar Akai needs a voice this time I guess so it had to go this way) reacting to the hat lady makes Yukiko extremely likely to be the hat lady. It looks like the lady might have said something to Scar Akai/Vermouth too, and Yukiko never got the opportunity to call out Vermouth for the fake death of Sharon/friendship betrayal/whatever you want to call it in the Vermouth arc. It's good to see confirmation that Sera is Akai's sister and Elena's tapes come back around again. I'll try to work out the case if real life doesn't keep demolishing me... I wonder if it wasn't a shot from the door while the room was locked, negating the need to go in the room at all. It seems we have enough info to solve it now because of Conan's smile. I hope Sera doesn't have a brain meltdown now and forget about her suspicions of Okiya. Also Vermouth is going to have to pretend to be left handed. I assume Okiya mailed Haibara pretending to be Vermouth to flush her out and drag her off to safety. If Haibara tries to take the antidote now again, things could get really crazy. It would remove the risk of having Amuro run into her as she is and ruin the child disguise, but paints a massive target on her back. There is also the question of Ran and the db running into her too. I am not going be surprised if she takes it anyway because of how she reacted in the Vermouth arc and the way things are going now.

This isn't suspicion. It's flat out confirmation that they are siblings. The only problem is that Sera might be approaching the wrong person. Scar Akai seems to be Vermouth this time around, which is convenient because she can speak in Akai's voice unlike Bourbon.

It was the murderer dressed up.

I think this thread is done. DCTP isn't coming back. It's sad, but that's law and life. Nothing important is going to be happening in the anime for six months. Maybe some other group will take over by then. Who knows?

Can't help you there because I have no idea what is going on. I haven't even seen the episode.

I was going back through the files and given the timing of everything, I am starting to think James is the one helping Sera, as much as I don't like the idea of him letting her into danger. Maybe she forced his hand with evidence? He would be the one she called when the three simultaneous calls happened in 800. I'm guessing Subaru was contacting his lady friend btw.

fixed

Just to let you all know I think contacting FUNi is a terrible idea. It lets them know their takedown was effective and may bring additional trouble for DCTP. Same goes for petitions. They don't care. The Detective Conan property is not profitable to them, so there will not be releasing any more in English no matter how much fan begging there is. Personally, I hope that someone other company picks up the property when FUNi's contract expires, so I fear that giving FUNi attention may only encourage FUNi to renew it for longer and therefore not give anyone else who might think more official subs is a good idea a chance.

This isn't going to be the answer you want to hear, but you will most likely have to help yourselves. Foreigners complaining to the broadcasters/government/whoever is responsible for the cancellation isn't going to sway them like their own Indonesian viewers will because it is you Indonesians who are the market and the people they care about. Foreigners will only look like outside meddlers in this situation. Unless the government/broadcaster/whoever changes its position, my guess is that Indonesian fans (if there are enough of them) will organize and do Indonesian fansubs because people will still want to watch anyway. I think there is already a group that does this. This is preaching to the crowd here, but I do not think Detective Conan encourages criminal behavior or concocting tricks to fool investigators. If anything, the message is that culprits always get caught in the end. That doesn't stop sensationalist news stories from saying that some show/videogame/song/book inspired some crime, but the truth behind these stories always seems to be that the criminal person was troubled for their own reasons. If Detective Conan really inspired crimes, why does Japan, where the show is very popular, have one of the lowest crime and murder rates in the world ?

The series of clips themselves would probably be okay under fair use, but the problem with most AMVs is that they often use long sections/whole songs of copyrighted music. Also Maurice would have to manually update the section if I am not mistaken.

The one with the most information is not necessarily Bourbon. They were starting from different points. Sera obviously had some reason in the beginning (I'm thinking Akai's picture) to think Conan and Haibara were important to who she is searching for (for me Akai). Conan and Haibara are the key people who connect the others, (Okiya, Shinichi, Sherry, FBI) together. Amuro on the other hand was starting from the FBI who know knowing, and then Kogoro, who also knows nothing. Sera's starting position was better, so its not surprising she turned up more info. If anything her knowledge level pegs her out to be a likely good guy: only good guys or characters who have sympathies and the right sort of personality (Vermouth) are allowed to know the secret identities of the main characters, otherwise they die (Pisco, sort-of-Akemi, sort-of-Calvados). Sera knows too much, so she will have to turn out to be a good guy, or a sympathetic villain (which would be a carbon copy of Vermouth, gender included), or she will die (which has never happened to a recurring character assuming Akai is alive as Okiya). This was mentioned in the showdown with Vermouth. If Vermouth found them once all by herself, she could probably do it again and better with a team. That means that FBI agent's movement gets investigated. Phone records stolen, credit card records stolen, that person gets tailed, computers get hacked, houses get bugged, movement history gets investigated, people who might have seen this person get questioned, etc... Gin once mentioned about how they could definitely go through the Haido/Beika ward to look for Sherry now that her location has been narrowed down. This shows the BO can certainly conduct wide range search operations. I made this point because I was countering your assertion that Bourbon must be cautious. This still doesn't explain why SeraBourbon would know what Scar Akai intended for the FBI so that she could call off Gin. So Scar Akai is laying a trap? Why not shoot him anyway? I don't see the disadvantage here. Getting rid of him would be one less problem to worry about later. In fact, Scar Akai has shown up on the train with Sera already. This means he has become a problem again and will probably make a nuisance of himself by poking around later. If he is related to the police like you propose later, it's worse because he might aim to protect Sherry. If Gin had killed Scar Akai then, there wouldn't be this problem now. SeraBourbon's judgment in calling off Gin was really bad then, perhaps uncharacteristically so for someone who is supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes according to Gin. Shooting Scar Akai would probably disrupt whatever "trap" he was trying to set, because not many groups would set a trap involving one of their own guys being a sacrificial kill. The modus operandi makes no sense for the police or anyone "good affiliated". For the police end, appearing in front of the FBI is questionable. If the police knew about the FBI and that they were conducting an illegal investigation in Japan with guns and all, it would get reported and the Japanese government would toss the FBI out. There is also the problem of the Japanese law enforcement apparently knowing nothing about the Org because they have made zero moves and given zero indication of knowing. How did the police know about the FBI and Org's showdown and that a murdered guy in a Chevy at Raiha pass whose face was mostly destroyed was especially important or even relevant to the Org and FBI? Making a convincing mask using a burnt body as a model is also a little hard to believe, so where did they get the current high def Akai pictures needed? On a more general note, the police or any good law enforcement types would not place someone a criminal organization was trying to kill in crowd of people, especially since there was a legitimate risk of civilian casualties because of the snipers. Also they would be using one of their own guys as sniper bait which makes no sense. One important thing to consider about Amuro is why he went out of contact with his close friend Date. If Amuro was still in law enforcement and the good guy side, even if he couldn't tell Date what he was doing exactly, there would be no need for the complete cutoff. If Amuro went into the Black Org which generally doesn't like police, cutting Date off for his own safety makes sense. Also Haibara getting what looks like a patented Black Organization reaction to Scar Akai in 818. I'm blaming love triangle involving Akemi right now for this; Akai stole Akemi from Amuro at the start of his infiltration and then got her in serious trouble when Akai was proven to be a traitor. It was worse because Akemi was still loyal to Akai anyway because she loved him. No evidence, but it could happen.

Having the FBI react affirmatively would immediately provide leads on where Akai might be and who his contacts are, which is better than having no idea where to begin looking. Also, just because the FBI is alerted doesn't mean they will gain a winning advantage. FBI are weakened because they are off their home turf and don't have the official backing to simply investigate, order around civilians, or wiretap as they please. Also Vermouth found out who most of them are and where they live. With all the directions the BO can strike from and the home court advantage, The FBI might not be able to protect Akai, just like they were unable to protect Rena once the BO found out where she was. If Bourbon can convince other members of the Org the FBI are reacting to him suspiciously because they know the real Akai is alive, Bourbon has the support he needs to challenge Kir's loyalty or get more resources for his investigation. The biggest problem for Bourbon right now is lack of support according to the B=SA=AT theory. Only Vermouth is backing him because the others don't believe Akai is alive. Going solo slows down any investigation he is doing. Even if Bourbon wants to be the one to put away Akai, that doesn't preclude having a team helping too. Therefore, having the FBI be alert to what he has done is a small price to pay for confirming Akai's presence. In addition, Bourbon's goal is not to interrogate the FBI, it's to get them to reveal to him inadvertently they know Akai is alive. (Which hasn't worked because they don't know.) Regarding doing something dangerous, we know from Date's description of Amuro that he might be the type "to overestimate his abilities, do something stupid, and get himself killed". (807.11) That is, if you make the assumption Amuro is Scar Akai is Bourbon, Bourbon's plans involving risk to himself is not contradictory. Showing up in front of the FBI in disguise then fits with what we know, along with texting Kogoro the solution to the case revealing someone knows Kogoro's number, or shooting Conan's hostage taker through a crowd. As Amuro we have the car crash stop. (The careful line said by Vermouth applied to ano kata's behavior btw.) I never said Bourbon didn't try to investigate on the down low before taking action. After all, he did know Kogoro's cell number long before Amuro appeared at the agency. I am arguing that regardless of whatever he did before, it didn't work, so he has decided to take the more decisive step with the Akai disguise. The BO tends not to like people investigating them, so the point would be to get rid of a threat. They were already prepared to kill someone is a crowded place in front of the FBI to begin with. Your explanation implies that SeraBourbon and Scar Akai are not on the same side, yet SeraBourbon somehow has perfect knowledge of Scar Akai's true intentions and goals. How did that happen?Another major hole in your theory is that there isn't a clear reason why Scar Akai would be acting the way he is. So he wants the FBI to think Akai is alive. Why? Why is he doing it a certain way which is very public, rather than more privately? Who does he work for? What are the benefits? What does he know about the FBI and the Org? These are the kinds of things that Gosho typically drops lots of clues about during an arc. We had Kir's CIA and father legacy, Eisuke's sister, Jodie, James, and Akai's FBI, apples, and their pictures of Vermouth's pictures, Vermouth's dartboard and letters... Gosho provides these sorts of clues starting early on in the arc. This is it, so there should be a consistent and convincing explanation for all the above mentioned questions. Also Haibara sensing and then turning to look at Scar Akai with a terrified face.

Haibara's strong reaction when Scar Akai walked by on the train was pretty telling. It couldn't be Sera who didn't trigger one earlier and who was in Mouri's room at the time. Who knows where Okiya is, but most of the time he doesn't cause a Haibara reaction. Why now? Akai seems to have died at Kir's hand, but Bourbon believes this was some sort of setup and Akai is not really dead and has gone into hiding somewhere. The problem is finding Akai. Without any leads on where Akai has gone, the logical choice is to find out which of Akai's friends knows the real story of what happened - that which ones know he is alive. Showing up as Akai but with one obvious difference -- a giant scar -- and watching how they react to him is one way of doing this. Which is why Scar Akai has only shown up in public places with lots of people around when the FBI target is alone. This pattern held true even for Sera. The FBI can't arrest him without making a scene. Scar akai had no idea unrelated cases were going to happen that trapped him in one place for long. Bourbon's motives and actions explained: extended version The problem is that theory was seemingly disproven when they realized Akai had been hanging out at the agency waiting for them. Vermouth said the FBI made Kogoro bait. I'm not arguing that Kogoro is not suspicious, but the payoff is better if he goes after Akai's closest FBI colleagues first because if they prove useful, Amuro could then avoid a longer term infiltration of the Mouri agency. So why wouldn't SeraBourbon ask Gin to kill imposter Akai anyway because he was making himself a nuisance by investigating the Org? They were all set up to do it. What was Vermouth going there?Also, your Scar Akai needs a motive, and a good one for wanting the Org or FBI to think Akai was alive, as well as not really caring what happens to Kir if the Org does come to think Akai is alive. We are running out of Bourbon arc pretty quickly now, so we should have some clues about this.

So here are my thoughts on 818. No spoilers for 819 were used for this. (As in I have not looked at them nor have any idea what they are.) Index - not a spoiler People to look for Assumptions about disguises: Rules 2 and 3 are based on the Vermouth arc. 1: The usual theories: Okiya is Akai, Scar Akai is Amuro. 2: Characters who have been disguising as someone will be using the same disguise as they were previously because it would be confusing to switch it up at the end. (I am a bit hesitant about all the theories where people are disguised as characters other than the usual ones they've been doing the whole time because it breaks the pattern Gosho has been setting up.) 3: Extra people disguising are OK as long as it is not the predetermined ones changing. It would be unusual and confusing for characters to be disguising as people they weren’t. Definitely on the train because the plot demands it Sera: seen in 8B with Sonoko, Ran, and Kogoro. Scar Akai: Seen leaving a D room in an upper level cabin. Amuro: Presumably as Scar Akai. He may show up as himself later. Guest is possible, but staff also works because of Amuro’s past in being staff. Also Amuro shows up on the poster. Okiya: Not seen yet. I have a feeling he might turn up in the next chapter or two because it wasn’t necessary to cram him in 818. If Okiya doesn't turn up in the next two chaps, then I will start wondering if he is in disguise. Also he shows up on the poster. Maybe on the train Okiya’s lady: the woman who was at Shinichi’s house who left a hair tie and some lipstick is possibly on the train. We don’t have enough clues who she is and Gosho would not have had her appear if she wasn’t relevant. Because we haven’t seen anything of her until now, this is the last chance she has to be relevant. Theories for her identity as far as I am concerned are Yukiko, Fusae Campbell Kinoshita (Agasa’s love – see Chek’s theories or her wiki page), Kir. Other theories worth mentioning that I have less confidence in are Akai/Sera’s mom, Jodie, or a third party. Possibly on the train Vermouth: If Vermouth does Scar Akai’s makeup, then she may be on train to help. She could have also been at the station. Other Black Organization agents: It would make sense for the Organization to consider sending other agents besides Bourbon and maybe Vermouth as contingency and/or in preparation for whatever plan they intends do to get Sherry later if Bourbon (and Vermouth) fail to capture her later. No evidence for being on the train, but may show up later FBI: As far as we know they don’t know about the video so wouldn’t know to board. On the other hand, there is the possibility Kir could have tipped them off somehow. Gin and Vodka: Based on what Gin said, it sounds like they will not be on the train, but they may show up later. Nagoya where the disembarking will take place is a good guess because they want to entrap Sherry. Recurring Character Observations and Evaluations Assumptions: 1: The usual theories: Okiya is Akai, Scar Akai is Amuro is Bourbon, Sera is a good guy and Akai’s sister. Characters Kogoro 8B – first class car Physical appearance: grey tie suit Personal effects: lighter, cigarettes, no visible luggage Ring: Ring on right hand ring finger. Kogoro is someone in disguise? No clear support for this theory so far. Handedness is okay it seems: pulls cigarette using left hand (happens offhand in prior instances), light with lighter in right. Not seen later on train in 818. Where is he? He probably wanted to smoke, and there may be a designated spot on the train for that. He may go off to smoke later if he isn’t doing it now. The other option is the bar car for booze and ladies. Ran 8B – first class car Physical appearance: Striped blouse and short skirt Personal effects: No visible luggage Ring: right hand ring finger Ran is someone in disguise? No clear support for this theory so far. In 8B room with Sera and Sonoko, having tea. Sonoko 8B – first class car Physical appearance: grey dress, headband, high socks Personal effects: No visible luggage Ring: right hand ring or index finger I think Sonoko is someone in disguise? No clear support for this theory so far. She wants to hide a letter for Kaito Kid in cabin 8. She is currently in 8B room with Ran and Sera, having tea. Agasa 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: Jacket, collared shirt, pants. Initially wearing hat on platform but removed later. Personal effects: duffel bag, snacks for the DB Ring: Not visible Agasa is someone in disguise? No clear support for this theory so far. Sera ?? - In 8B room with Ran and Sonoko, but from the way she talked about visiting on page 15, it sounds like she might be in another room… Physical appearance: fuzzy collar jacket, over shirt, pants. Initially wearing usual brim hat on platform but removed later in room. Personal effects: no luggage visible. Ring: Not visible, not able to make call on right hand On platform Ai does not give the patented BO reaction but does react to Sera by putting up hood. In Mouri’s room, she is looking at a card, presumably for the mystery? If so, then Kogoro’s room or Sera’s may have been given a fake card as well for some reason. Scar Akai ?? – seen leaving a D cabin in a carriage frontwards of 7 or 8 Physical appearance: Fedora, some sort of unusually buttoned high collar suit, slacks. No gloves it seems. The hat is noticeably different; a fedora. Probably changed from cap to fedora because of train’s semiformal dresscode – a cap wouldn’t cut it. Same goes for Scar Akai’s normal jacket. Personal effects: none visible, no known luggage Ring: Not visible Is heading in the direction of the front of the train. Regarding Scar Akai's scar looking different, Gosho is not very consistent in drawing it, even within a single case. Conan 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: The usual bowtie suit Personal effects: Assume full compliment of gadgets, no known luggage Ring: not visible on either hand while running on train Haibara 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: jacket with hood Personal effects: sick mask (is it the voice changing one?) Ring: Right hand ring finger, not visible on right hand while running later on train Ayumi 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: frilly dress, headband Personal effects: no known luggage Ring: not visible on right hand when running on train Genta 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: overalls? Personal effects: no known luggage Ring: not visible on left hand while running on train Mitsuhiko 6D – “normal” car Physical appearance: collared shirt and pants Personal effects: no known luggage Ring: not visible on train General comments It seems most people took the rings off when they got on the train… ------ Not sure if involved yet…. Kaitou Kid Not likely to show up this case; it would be too complicated. Also the target is a month out. The Mystery of the Blue Train / Death on the Nile anyone? Vermouth If Vermouth does makeup for Bourbon, then she may be on train or elsewhere. She probably will need to be in disguise in this case, and may share a room with Bourbon. Gin and Vodka Nothing out of ordinary here for them. I don’t think they are going to be on the train although they should show up in the end. More on them later in the Black org section… Suspect Observations and Evaluations General Notes and Literary References This case is an obvious homage to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and there are many parallels between the case and suspects and this novel. The name puns listed are courtesy of HADAA. In light of the novel and its conclusion, it would be wise to suspect that multiple suspects that seem unconnected could be culprits, especially because the unusually large number of them. Also, the staff should not be exempt from suspicions. Virtually all the suspects in the novel lied about their identities and roles, so this should be taken into consideration. All the suspects seem to do this every year and so know each other well enough. Most of the suspects reacted to Kogoro announcing himself. Usually cases with this are ones where all the suspects have something to hide, although they may not necessarily be the murderer. Suspects Murobashi Etsuto HADAA says: Monsieur Bouc (not a suspect)? + Rachett (victim) (rachietto→etto→etsuto→etsuto) 39 ♂– dead??? Cabin 7B (his usual cabin is 8B) Physical description: a grouchy and fat man, one of the taller of the suspects, light skin, with a high collared outfit. Appears to have removed his jacket when we was shot. Personal Effects: A light colored briefcase with pockets Ring: Can’t tell about ring, the picture unclear but doesn’t seem to be on right hand initially. In murder pictures, it doesn’t seem to be on right hand or the thumb-middle of left hand either. Reacts strongly to Kogoro announcing. Apparently dies in what Conan thinks is 7B. Noto Taisaku Colonel Arbuthnot (Colonel=taisa) 52 ♂ Cabin 8A - first class car Physical description: A big man, with broad face and cheekbones. He has a diagonal scar on his right cheek. Tallest of the suspects. Light skin. He has a beard and mustache. He had thin lines under his eyes. Suit. Personal Effects: Long, skinny bag over right shoulder with strap on right shoulder. Ring: not visible in 818 Reacts strongly to Kogoro announcing 8B is Kogoro Andou Satoru Count Andrenyi 41 ♂ Cabin 8C - first class car Physical description: A greasy, slim man with a thin face. Fairly short. Glasses and “Hitler mustache”. Light skin. Tie suit with high collar. Personal Effects: Very large black briefcase over left shoulder, smaller one over right. A person could almost fit in that big briefcase, although it could not be carried over his shoulder like that. He says it is very heavy and has a large “solid gold” frame inside. It seems like such a thing would be very difficult to carry over one’s shoulder. He seems to be related to art appraisers as he had a painting someone else determined to be a forgery that he was returning to his client. Ring: Don’t see ring on left hand. Reacts strongly to Kogoro announcing. Komino Natsue Natalia Dragomiroff. 75 ♀ Cabin 8D - first class car Physical description: A very skinny, old wheelchair bound woman with light wrinkled skin, a hat with feather, and veil. Looks like mourning clothes. Has a chain of pearls with ornate clasp? Personal Effects: A wheelchair that does not seem to have much space for hiding large things. I don’t see anything unusual about the wheelchair. No visible luggage. Ring: On right hand ring finger. Relations: Sumitomo Hiruka is her assistant or is she something else? They share the same room. Reacts strongly to Kogoro announcing Sumitomo Hiruka Hildegarde Schmidt 37 ♀ Cabin 8D - first class car Physical description: A severe looking woman who is medium tall? Broad shoulders? She has tweaked hair like Rena on sides and curls in back that fall to upper neck. Plain jacket suit. Personal Effects: No visible luggage. Ring: Don’t see ring on either hand, but hard to make out Relations: She is the wheelchair pusher for 75 year old lady from the same room. Is she more to Komino Natsue? Reacts to Kogoro announcing Idenami Mari Mary Debenham 33 ♀ Cabin 8E - first class car Physical description: A lady-type who seems to be the shortest of the suspects excluding the old lady. She has long curly hair. She is wearing a light colored wide hat, large hoop earrings, a necklace, and a suit. Personal Effects: No visible luggage. Ring: not visible in 818 Reacts strongly to Kogoro announcing Bushy brows conductor ♂ Physical description: Left hand watch, super thick eyebrows, hat and suit. Fairly tall seeming. Gestures with left hand Personal Effects: Ring: N/A Relations: Knows the suspects fairly well since they ride the train every year. He calls them mystery connoisseurs. If the conductor is the same one, he was seen nearby Scar Akai. Murderer Physical description: Black pants, grey hoodie over hat, sunglasses and sick mask, gloves, and shoots right handed. He doesn’t look very thin or fat. Does look like has dark skin, but could be from shade of hood. No reaction from Ai. His physical appearance might be said to mirror Christie character’s description of Ratchett’s attacker (who was incidentally a fabrication) as a small man, with dark skin and a womanish voice. Capable of running and losing the detective boys in the train so he must know the place or have a hiding spot set up. Personal Effects: Gun, silencer Ring: unsure Runs towards front of train. Case Evaluation What’s going on? Someone’s room is wrong For full analysis with pretty useful pictures please refer to this handy-dandy personal page on the wiki: http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/User:Chekhov_MacGuffin/Latest_case Somehow in the course of things, Agasa and Kogoro wound up in cars that were next to each other rather than with one in between them. This means that someone boarded the wrong cabin, or while the cabin was vacant, a culprit moved their stuff to an adjacent car. It is unclear whether Kogoro or Agasa is the one in wrong cabin. There are four general possibilities... Agasa's cabin was relocated from 6D to 7D After the kids were lured from the cabin by the letter, Agasa was lured out as well afterwards and everything was moved from cabin 6D to cabin 7D. Agasa returned, and thought 7D was really 6D. Conan misjudged the cabins and went to Kogoro's 8B by accident, and then saw Agasa coming out of 7D and became confused. Pros: Cons: This does not mesh with Conan's evaluation that he went back the right number of rooms to what he thought 7B was. The DB plunked down a bunch of snacks which would be hard to properly cleanup and move to exact spots. Agasa was tricked in boarding 7D instead of 6D Agasa and entourage were tricked into boarding 7D instead of 6D. Since the numbers are on the outside of the carriages, they would have to be distracted somehow or mixed up inside the train before getting to their room. No one visited each other's cabins and noticed the mixup. Kogoro and entourage were lured out. The victim went into 8B and met with the suspect. The detective boys were called. Because the detective boys were supposed to be in 6D, they thought carriage 7 was next to them, which was really carriage 8, and so went to 8B thinking it was 7B. The murder was thus in 8B, Kogoro's room, and not 7B like they thought. The body was then removed after the detective boys left, possibly to the real 7B or 6B (Agasa's intended cabin), and things were cleaned up before Kogoro and entourage returned. Pros: Conan’s room count would be correct. Cons: Conan would be unlikely to be taken in by the necessary distraction. A distraction or confusing move was not mentioned or implied either. Kogoro was tricked into boarding 7B instead of 8B Kogoro and entourage were tricked into boarding 7B instead of 8B. Since the numbers are on the outside of the carriages, they would have to be distracted somehow or mixed up inside the train before getting to their room. Kogoro, Sonoko, and Ran were lured out of the cabin, leaving it empty. The victim and a culprit came into the cabin before Conan and the detective boys arrived, and the shooting and chase ensued. Ran and Sonoko then returned to their cabin. Conan then barged in and was mistakenly told he was in 8B. Pros: Conan’s room count would be correct. Cons: A distraction or mixing up was not mentioned. Kogoro's taking over room 8B from the victim was unannounced to the potential culprit, so they would have insider info or be very fast on their feet to pull off a workable distraction ploy especially if the victim was not explicitly cooperating because the victim may attempt to go to 7B too. Also outsiders think Kogoro is intelligent which would make them more wary of failing. Kogoro's cabin was relocated from 8B to 7B This version is a bit more complex because there are several possibilities. I strongly recommend referring to the personal wiki page mentioned above (http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/User:Chekhov_MacGuffin/Latest_case). 1. The murder happened before the room switch. Kogoro and entourage could be lured out of their 8B cabin before or after the murder. The contents of Kogoro's cabin were then relocated to 7B. The victim's things and body(?) were relocated to another room, possibly the now empty 8B. 2a. The murder happened in the middle of the room switch. Kogoro and entourage were lured into leaving their 8B cabin. A suspect grabbed Kogoro's luggage and took it to 7B and met the victim. A suspect put the luggage in the victim's room. The detective boys arrived and the murder took place. After the detective boys left, a suspect finished the switch by relocating the victim's luggage and the body(?) to another room, possibly the now empty 8B. 2b. The murder happened in the middle of the room switch. Kogoro and entourage were lured into leaving their 8B cabin. The victim who desired 8B instead of 7B perpetrated or helped perpetrate the switching. The victim grabbed Kogoro's luggage and took it to 7B. A suspect helped and then tricked him or took advantage of the situation. The detective boys arrived and the murder took place. After the detective boys left, a suspect finished the switch by relocating the victim's luggage and the body(?) to another room, possibly the now empty 8B. 3a. The murder happened after the room switch. Kogoro and entourage were lured into leaving their 8B cabin. The victim was lured into leaving his 7B cabin. A suspect switched the contents of 7B and 8B. The victim was called back in time for the murder. The detective boys arrived and the murder took place. The victim's body(?) was relocated to another room, possibly the now empty 8B. 3b. The murder happened after the room switch. Kogoro and entourage were lured into leaving their 8B cabin. The victim who desired 8B instead of 7B perpetrated or helped perpetrate the switching of 7B to 8B. A suspect helped and then tricked him or took advantage of the situation. The detective boys arrived and the murder took place. The victim's body(?) was relocated to another room, possibly the now empty 8B. Pros: Conan’s room count would be correct. Explains the victim's reaction to the detective boys tromping in. Cons: The train is intentionally set up to make carriage confusion and cabin switching easy. The only way to tell which carriage you are in is to look from the outside, making the cars ambiguous. This is likely plot intentional to make the trick work. About the train See the personal wiki page for a diagram of the train: http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/User:Chekhov_MacGuffin/Latest_case They are modeled off of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express: http://www.orient-express.com/web/vsoe/the_train.jsp The Bell Tree mystery train is a nonstop luxury express from Tokyo to an unknown destination, in this case Nagano, with a mystery feature for the passengers. It runs once a year and has been running for many years. It is owned by Suzuki conglomerate. There are an unknown number of carriages, but there are at least 8. Each carriage is marked with a number on the side, but not on the inside, so it is unclear which carriage one is in without asking. Each has 5 rooms lettered A to E with E being more towards the front of the train and A towards the back (right to left ordering). Cabin 8 is a luxury first class car, but 6 and 7 seem not to be although they are “comparable”. Doors to each cabin feature a key, and chain lock, and a letter plate. The plate could possibly be switched, but I see no evidence for it. The things above door in the hallway are possibly a light for room service? People’s movements 818 Conan and the DB go from 6D to 7B per the request of the letter Conan and the DB chase the suspect from 7B towards the front of a train to an unknown carriage. After talking to the conductor, Conan takes off towards 7B and winds up going to 8B by mistake. Somewhere between a front carriage and 7B, the DB pass scar Akai leaving a D room. Scar Akai heads towards the front of the train. Conan and the DB leave 8B and go back towards where 7B should be but are cut off by Agasa leaving 6D. The Agasa cabin letter The fake letter sent to room 6D suggests that someone wanted witnesses to see the murder in 7B. The murder waiting for them to enter adds to this hypothesis. It is unclear whether the DB were targeted randomly or specifically; Ran only mentioned they were in car 6 where the suspects could overhear. Kids are easy to dupe which may explain them being targeted. The time was carefully specified at 10 minutes from the drop so the arrival of the children could be controlled if other specifically parts of the trick were delicately timed. The murder in “Cabin 7B” Not too many details of 7B room are clear. The door wasn’t chained. The victim yells at the detective boys not to enter. This is strange because he has a pretty bad personality, so warning people seems unexpected when they have the chance to distract his would be murderer. It could be that the victim didn’t know he was going to be shot right then because he knew the covered murderer and didn’t realize he was in a plot. It could also be that the victim didn’t want the DB to see into the room. Finally, the murderer could have told him he will be killed when people come in, but why wouldn’t the victim attempt to fight back and save himself? I assume the victim actually died from the gunshots, but until we re-find the body I will reserve judgment because of other Christie novels like Death on the Nile where faked death tricks occurred. Fake gunshots could happen especially since we might see a reference back to Akai’s faked death in this case. The chase and aftermath The murderer made the DB run around towards the front of the train and presumably get thoroughly disoriented with their cars. Conan seemed to keep track of how many they had been down however, so he thought he returned to the right 7B room. I am going to guess Conan is likely right. It is likely that the murderer was not counting on Conan being that perceptive so the DB would not be able to identify the room later. The second letter Sera is looking at a card in the Mouri room, presumably for the mystery? If so, then Kogoro’s room or Sera’s may have been given a fake card as well for some reason as part of the plan. I am guessing it will be Mouri’s room. If their room was switched, luring them out is necessary and this letter could be the lure. My current thoughts More than one person may be involved in this plot, especially if one culprit was running around leading the DB while the other was cleaning up the body. The large number of suspects supports this idea as long as there isn’t a serial murder. At this stage, I think it is likely Mouri’s room is the one that is wrong, with later switching rather than wrong boarding topping the list. Conan feels he didn’t miscount cars, so it would seem he ran back to the room he originally thought was 7B which is the one with Ran, Sonoko, and Sera in it now. Other factors in support for Kogoro’s room being the messed up one are: 1) The suspects are also closer to Kogoro’s room and more familiar with it because they have been riding that carriage for years running. 2) The Mouris’ movements are less certain than the DB’s. 3) Kogoro is not in the room, so either he got distracted or left which may indicate some meddling. The second letter Sera has may also be important in this. Kogoro probably wanted to smoke, and there may be a designated spot on the train for that. He may go off to smoke later if he isn’t doing it now. The other option is the bar car for booze and ladies. If the victim wanted to reclaim his 8B room, he may have been helping his own will-be-murderer with the cabin switch, explaining why he yelled at the detective boys because he was in the middle of doing it and didn’t want them to notice. Ran and Sonoko had a teaset. Either they room serviced or left to get some. Sera came by later as well so there is also something to look into there. Kogoro taking over the 8B cabin was unexpected, so the murderer’s plan would have to be adapted on the fly unless the victim agreed to help somehow. Case Resolution Sonoko’s hidden letter for Kaitou Kid is likely to be vital to the case because of the room mixup. She wanted to hide it in the first class car 8 for Kid to find. If it isn’t where she expected it will be clear Kogoro’s room was moved. Black Organization What do Gin and Vermouth mean? Gin: Yeah... if we can just stop her getting off en route, it’s a jail of moving steel. Just like hunting down deer, if we get her to flee in fear, she will likely expose herself to the barrel of the gun. Vermouth: You know why I deliberately leaked this information to you, right? Gin: You don’t want me to interfere until that metal snake has returned to its burrowing hole, right? Vermouth is asking Gin to delay any attack made on Sherry. This means there is something or someone aboard the train that is important or should not be interfered with. Bourbon is likely, as it would be bad if Gin attempted something like bombs while Bourbon was on board doing his thing. Also because Vermouth made the request, Bourbon is even more likely as he seems to be in cahoots with her and not at all with Gin who needs informing. What is Scar Akai up to? He was heading towards the front of the train from an unknown D room. This is the direction away from the action so far, so his goal isn’t clear unless he is looking for someone or checking the place out. This doesn’t necessarily mean the D room was Scar Akai’s. For all we know, he not-so-accidentally barged into someone else’s room to investigate. Agasa is in a D room, although I would think Haibara would notice after the turnaround Scar Akai came out of the room Agasa was in even if she was confused about the rooms. Sera’s room is also unknown at this point, and a possibility. How is Bourbon going to be caught? Conan and Haibara are not aware of the Shiho video being sent or seen so everything that will happen is going to mostly be a surprise to them. It is possible Amuro will get hoisted on his own unique cap, which Conan does know about in connection to Scar Akai. Amuro would have to show up in person or this to work, either as a guest or staff. Also Okiya has yet to make a move. Ideas for the climax at the end. Bombs are classic BO technique although they have been done before with the Shinkansen case. If we look at what Gin said literally about hunting techniques, they might try to prevent Shiho from leaving the train and then look for her. This would work by loading the Nagano platform with disguised Black Org agents of any level, or setting up snipers, or something like that, whose aura will terrify Shiho into staying on the train. Then the Black Org will send people aboard to check every room until they find her, just like hunters flushing animals from the underbrush. This would make for some pretty sweet drama like the locker scene. Ai is sick so another antidote may be in the works….

Targeting Akai's closest FBI colleagues seems like a really good start. Who would you get help from first, close friends or random strangers?

Context: 2) The person wouldn’t fit Ai’s expectations 2.1) The person seems "useless" or of unsuitable personality to actually think of them as being a mastermind behind a large organization. Ai would have had to meet this person personally so that she could gauge their personality and subsequently write them off as unlikely to be anyone of consequence. This person would almost certainly not trigger Ai’s “black org sense.” 2.2)... 2.3) .... .... This is only one possibility for who the boss might be out of several different possibilities, so the boss could have a BO scent. Also the interview about Haibara being shocked by the boss's identity which these possibilities are based on has not been independently confirmed, so everything is really tentative here. Sorry, I don't want to sound more sure than I really am -- which is not confident at all.

This is the thread you want: The Secret Behind Vermouth's Youth!

DCW never hosted the content in the first place as far as I understand but still received a DMCA anyway. The moderators are trying to get the site admin to remove the watch section altogether to avoid confusion. It's never coming back.

I think Ai would have protested until she got an answer that satisfied her because whatever they originally told her about her sister dying was not good enough. We don't know if she knows. She knows "Moroboshi Dai" was a traitor of some sort. We don't know if she knows it was because he was an FBI spy. We do know she doesn't know "Moroboshi Dai's" real name is Akai because she didn't recognize it when Conan talked about him in Red vs. Black.

I don't lean this way because I am not seeing any proof of it.Edit Reply to Glass heart 2 posts below V I disagree and think the Scar Akai is Bourbon theory makes the most sense and has the best evidence. (Sorta cheating, but sorry I didn't think this reply was worth making a whole separate post for...)