Chekhov MacGuffin

I wish I could help you and thanks for explaining that I had the wrong info on how much it costs to get between the two cities. I didn't realize there were discounts that only foreigners could get. I wonder why those exist?

I was talking about one way flights which wasn't the most accurate way to state the info. I pulled the info from here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html and a couple of other tourist aimed websites from around the web I can't track down again. It was probably a mistake to rely on those. I have to say though that looking up fares from various travel websites yields much higher fares (like ~50000 yen for a round trip coming back a week later starting on saturday), so my info could be very incorrect, or else I'm looking during an expensive time...

764 spoilers I cracked up when Kogoro almost fell over the side of the balcony after Conan darted him. Takagi seemed a little too happy giving Megure a necklace made from Conan's glowing watch. From the pictures, the case solution looks pretty much the same with Akonyl's modification. I still think it would have been better to cut the string with the clock gears because it is more precise and less susceptible to wind and rain triggering it early. That didn't really matter though because the basic design is the same. All in all, I think this was a pretty good case, it was clever and not too easy to solve. It is also the first string trick in a long long time. The last case with a string trick I remember was the Seiran case with Kid back around chapter 547 although Fuurinkazan might count if you consider tying the notebook to the electrified overhead lines a string trick.

I forget if I already posted here but Kichiemon is my least favorite character in the series followed by Kaitou Kid. The reason is because I have disliked most of the cases they appear in.

It's unstated at this point I think. I don't think it was answered even in Magic Kaito Public baths in Japan are still used, so I assume there is a higher cultural tolerance for seeing other unrelated people naked. Shinchi and Ran went to visit with the Kudo parents in LA and then Yukiko got musical tickets so she had them fly to new York directly after that. It isn't weird to fly overseas without adults at their ages anyway, especially if they are going to meet up with more parents at their destination. Judging by Shinichi's house, his family is probably rich enough to afford it. As for Hattori and Kazuha, a quick scope of fares for flights and bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka look to be about 10000-13000 yen. That's not that bad, and I doubt their families are hurting for cash either. They probably also visit to go shopping and things, so it's not totally just to harass Conan and Ran. See his wiki page. It has all the known info about his family in it. Assuming you mean Itakura's program, I have a theory on that. Three years previous, Itakura stopped developing CG due to poor eyesight. Two years ago Tequila showed up at his office to say he didn’t need him anymore. One year later, he was later forced to develop a program with a year deadline. He didn’t want to complete the program “for the sake of humanity.” (380)Itakura’s program is something an ordinary person would program; specifically someone who programmed games. It probably was a personal project of Itakura's as he was able to stop developing it on a whim; something he wouldn't be able to do so easily if he was paid to make it. If it is a personal project, it doesn't have to be specifically related to games. It could be something related to game development like artificial intelligence, networking, modeling, rendering, etc, or it could be something completely different. That the BO could find out about it in the first place probably indicates that Itakura didn't keep it secret. That means it probably not a virus or something highly illegal Itakura would not want to speak of, although modified it may have those applications. I suppose it's a matter of spin the dials to try out voices and see what matches. The system must be pretty intuitive because Conan somehow can quickly match voices on the fly.

Merged topics because they seem similar.

The part of the Conan Drill that has been translated doesn't clarify past that they have made it to home base with one another. There might be more about it in there, but until it gets translated, who knows? If Gin and Shiho were also together, it's possible that Gin was two timing them.

The Kichiemon page now exists, but I was wondering if someone could help fill in the holes for Gin and Akai. I added in a bunch of new sections that need filling. A good hunk of it is plot summary and pictures.

That argument is fallacious because guns (depending on the country) can be legally used for hunting, sport, or self protection. Shiho's poison (in its current state) is only useful as a murder weapon. Making a poison unintentionally when researching new pharmaceutical compounds is not illegal (otherwise the medicine industry would be in trouble from all the failed anti-cancer drugs). The difference is though that regardless of the original intent, it was tested as a poison to see how effective it would be, refined, and manufactured into capsules dosed to kill humans, and it was used to murder people. I assume Shiho did the testing, refining, and dosing which makes her accomplice to murder.

But it really isn't that different. Chris only appeared while Sharon was alive to make movies and give interviews. Basically Vermouth could do double duty and be both people as long as Chris didn't take up too much of Sharon's time. When Sharon "died", Chris could come out in the open because Vermouth didn't spend time being both people. No it is important. It is more suspicious if one person disappears and then someone new appears. By creating a false long term continuity for Chris's existence, it makes it harder to say, "well, she pretended to die and disguised as Chris". Jodie herself believed Chris was a different person from Sharon until when at the funeral Chris said the "A secret makes a woman, woman" line. Vermouth didn't know Jodie figured out Sharon and Chris were the same person. She knew the FBI and Jodie were investigating Chris as part of the Black Org, but not necessarily the same agent of the Black Org as Sharon. As I said before, there is no evidence Yukiko actually saw Chris talking to Sharon. This could be Yukiko repeating a story Sharon told her about Chris asking for disguise training. As proof of this, when Shinichi told Yukiko his hypothesis that Chris and Sharon are the same person, even though Yukiko didn't want to believe it because Sharon was her friend, she accepted Conan's hypothesis anyway. Yukiko acknowledges that what Shinichi said could be true based on her past with Sharon. Basically Yukiko can't disprove Conan's hypothesis despite not wanting to believe it. Vermouth had been working on Chris's identity for a long time. Vermouth is not aging, but her cover Sharon Vineyard is, which means more makeup and a greater risk of accidents. It doesn't help the FBI are closing in too. The reason Sharon lied to Yukiko was to build Chris's background up to create the impression she is a real person. It would be weird for a mom not to talk about her kid every now and then.

I thought it could be a vague notification that the clock was involved, but it did highlight the funny shape of the hour hand rather well. It doesn't change the basic idea that the clock triggered the mechanism. Gosho didn't provide enough clues to distinguish between different the two suggested methods anyway.I realized I had my diagram slightly wrong. Based on the position of the blood marks on the door and the railing, the umbrella and the string goes over the rail, not threaded through the railing bars. I fixed it to reflect the changes.

That wasn't a patented Shiho "he's got the black org smell" reaction. She just was nervous from the guy glaring (in reality squinting because he couldn't see).

Bruce Lee died from cerebral edema after he had a reaction to a painkiller...

Kogoro's A-le-le: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iOdIemN3a8 Ep 514 a-le-le clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwO_kXDZia4 (Better sound for last part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn0u8ipf1LA) A-le-le backfires: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jj-qs5Xx08 Oi-Oi compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFDG7f363U Oi-Oi, A-le-le (including Haibara) and other things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNXeKR6BjoM

I thought about that already, but I decided that the hour hand's position at 5:58/5:59 and 6:00 is pretty close. The object could slip off early if it is buffeted around a bit since it the clock hand is facing pretty much downwards at 5:59. Gosho could say that it worked as you describe, but I would would be disappointed as it seems too error prone.

We've seen Ayumi's dad at the end of the haunted mansion case. It's funny how the parents never seem to yell at them again for getting into even worse trouble...

I think we were both saying the same thing and I didn't realize it when I posted.

Google translator actually doesn't do that bad of a job, better than it does Japanese at least. I found that discussions are pretty easy to follow although some points don't come across quite correctly.

This is a first pass solution, and thus I probably messed up or ignored some things I shouldn't have. *Edit 4pm now updated with diagram* The murderer is is Karube Teigo, the architect. He used his collapsible umbrella to murder Hoshina Rukako. The handle part concealed the icepick-like blade, while the umbrella part was used to block the majority of the blood from splashing onto his clothes. After reassembling and collapsing the umbrella, he disposed of the umbrella down the well by using some contraption tied to the well and the tower clock. Why murder didn't occur until the third year The first clue is that the murderer sent the letter twice previously, but there is no indication of a countdown. This mean the circumstances weren’t correct for the murderer on Hoshino’s last two birthdays. It is raining this time which provides the excuse to have an umbrella. Karube Teigo has a foldable umbrella he kept with him and he even put it in his jacket while wet instead of checking it with the butler. Also the rain would hide string contraptions more effectively because people would be less likely to look up. Timeline of events After everyone cleared out of the clocktower, but before the party, Karube Teigo took the time to prepare the contraption/string trick at the well and the tower clock. The contraption works so when the tower clock strikes six, a string is cut or slips which causes the string that had been run through the well grating and then the balcony door to pull the umbrella that the culprit tied to it into the well. I imagine there is some weight dangling in the well which will cause the umbrella to be yanked at high speed, enough to throw open the unlocked, outward-facing door. I'll try to elaborate on the mechanics later. During the party, Karube Teigo took the time to touch Hoshina Rukako's necklace and apply luminescent paint. He also asks to examine Hoshina's pocketwatch. He had to set Hoshina's pocketwatch fast to ensure he has time between when she blows out the candles and the tower clock strikes six to attach the murderous umbrella to the contraption before it sets off. The butler says that Hoshina always times the blowing out of the candles with the first chime of the clocks. Ran points out that Hoshina was early, and the butler says the clock technicians assigned said the clocks went off at the correct time. This means Hoshina's pocketwatch, which was her reference, was fast. It is most likely the reason she was angry right before she was murdered because she noticed the clocks didn't go off properly according to her. When the butler turns the light out, Karube Teigo opens the umbrella and separates the handle which conceals an icepick like blade. When he does this, it creates a cloth friction sound like a lady's dress moving which Karube himself noted. In the process of getting close to Hoshina Rukako, the umbrella brushes up against Furugaki Rinsaku who mistook the springy feeling for a fat person's body passing him. The umbrella seems like a nimble person to Suou Chiaki because it is lightweight and easily moves. I hazard that Karube Teigo held the umbrella near his body with one hand to block the blood spatter and held the separated handle blade with the other, and he stabbed the blade through the umbrella into Hoshina Rukako's back. This resulted in the unusual parabola shaped boundary where the blood was blocked by the circular shape of the umbrella. He then closed the umbrella and reattached the handle which would get blood on his hands and cuffs, tied it to the contraption, and then positioned himself to kneel when the lights are turned on so he could explain the blood on his hands and cuffs. The contraption goes off right when the tower clock strikes six which pulls the umbrella through the door at high speed, flinging it open and leaving rubbed blood marks on porch from dragging. The umbrella is dragged through the grating into the well and the left over string either goes with it or is wrapped up into the gears of the tower clock somehow. The weather forecast said the rain should have stopped in the evening. Karube Teigo was counting on that to avoid questions about the absense of footprints, but it didn't turn out the way he wanted casting suspicion on the party members. Evidence There should be plenty of evidence such as fingerprints on the umbrella since Karube was not wearing gloves earlier. Karube also doesn't have the umbrella when he hits questioning despite putting it in his jacket earlier. Any remnants of string in the tower clock and the well and the pocket watch being fast will prove the mechanics of the trick. Karube hasn't washed his hands which have blood on them before he was questioned, so if he applied the luminescent paint with his bare fingers, the paint should show up among the blood with a black light; however, other people handling the necklace later might have paint on them as well. The same goes for Karube's fingerprints being on the pocketwatch because other people might have handled it. I still have to explain the positioning of the other suspects and why they have the bloodstains on certain parts of their body, but I imagine the umbrella probably protected them as well from most of the the blood splatter. I also need to prove that no one else could have committed the crime, but I think Karube is the only one who handled the pocketwatch before the crime with an umbrella and could set the previously precisely ontime pocketwatch fast. The mysterious bit is why Karube pressed for an investigation when he bothered to set up the trick in the first place. He did say that he wasn't keen that the ghost of his childhood friend could be made out to be the culprit. If he cared enough to murder someone, then perhaps he cares enough not to sully the name of his dead friend? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a potential string trick solution in the case of a deep well. The murderer attaches the umbrella in the dark to a loose bit of string flagged with a bit of luminescent paint on the end so he can see it. The string securely knotted to another bit of string connected to the clock gears/some other clock part and bearing the weight hanging in the well. The string is snapped by the at six precisely. The weight drags the umbrella and the bit of string attached to the clock tower into the well through the grating. This trick requires a different construct if the well is shallower than the clock tower is high to avoid leaving dangling string on the lawn or the roof.

Maybe you are thinking of the Yakuza.

Not quite. I could pull Abs. on this one for the original Japanese if you like, but looking at quite a few different subs and translations later, they all say same thing with slightly different wording. Haibara says Conan is involved in a project the Organization began over fifty years ago. That doesn't mean Conan was involved fifty years ago; it means the project is over fifty years old and Conan is a part of it, not implying Conan was involved from the start.

Conan said he was letting Kid go because his mother is a fan of Ryoma, but the real reason he let Kid go is probably because Kaito Kid was doing the "right" thing by exposing the forgers. It's strongly hinted at that Phantom Lady is Kaito's Mom. "Well then... I guess neither of us are a match for our mothers..." Manga-wise it hasn't been stated who Kaito's mom is, but in the anime she is Kuroba Chikage.

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