Glass Heart

What if the boss is intended to appear as something we don't expect from a series like Detective Conan: a child who doesn't appear to be anything else than a child at first, while having a fake identity, a fake life, a fake family (with agents using disguises or not) ?

That is quite possible. After all, Wakasa's name is an anagram seemingly revealing Rum's true identity.

"Redrum" is "Murder" in reverse. "Akai" means "Red" (Shuichi Akai's name comes partially from "Akai Suisei", the "Red Comet", the nickname of Char Aznable in Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin). Rum is the name of the new BO operative. "Redrum" is a cliche in detective fiction, sometimes as an alias used by an unknown murderer.

I wonder if Gosho Aoyama is not trying to pull a "REDRUM" joke on us by implying that Shuichi Akai's father was involved in a past crime in which Rum was the murderer. Maybe that's too cliche but still he's definitely associating the words "Red" and "Rum" together on the same case. Still, Shuichi Akai himself is an handsome man who could look like a woman with his long hairs so, if his father looks just like him but older, he could fit all three descriptions of Rum.

I just read the last chapters of Detective Conan.

Personally, I'm not really searching for ONE character to be Rum. I have the feeling that he is a cross-dresser who will appear as two different characters of opposite gender, pretty much like Ranma Saotome from the point of view of people who don't know they're one and the same. If Rum appears as female, I definitely love the "Lum Invader as BO" design Gosho Aoyama as drawn. lol !

I'd love for

The whole Digimon anime franchise over the years: First series: Digimon Adventure (1999-2000) - Main: Taichi Yagami (Toshiko Fujita) / Agumon (Chika Sakamoto) Second series: Digimon Adventure 02 (2000-2001) - Main: Daisuke Motomiya (Reiko Kiuchi) / V-mon (Junko Noda) Third series: Digimon Tamers (2001-2002) - Main: Takato Matsuda (Makoto Tsumura) / Guilmon (Masako Nozawa) Fourth series: Digimon Frontier (2002-2003) - Main: Takuya Kanbara (Junko Takeuchi) Fifth series: Digimon Savers (2006-2007) - Main: Masaru Daimon (Soichiro Hoshi) / Agumon (Taiki Matsuno) Sixth series: Digimon Xros Wars (2010-2011) - Main: Taiki Kudo (Minami Takayama) / Shoutmon (Chika Sakamoto) Seventh series: Digimon Xros Wars II (2011-2012) - Main: Tagiru Akashi (Marina Inoue) / Gumdramon (Kumiko Watanabe) Eighth series: Digimon Adventure 3 (2015-....) - Main: Taichi Yagami (Toshiko Fujita)

Chapter 900: We discover that the boss of the organization is in fact a KGB agent (who loves alcool) and that he is actually Kogoro Mouri wearing a disguise and a voice-changer. Or something like that. lol !

Honestly, this case is easily one of the worst I've remembered of the manga. For a case which was supposed to bring us some answers and be a major case in the whole arc, things were really poorly conceived. Very disappointed ! I really thought that Gosho Aoyama would do a way better job than this (like he did with the confrontation in red and black which was a masterpiece) !

So... that's just it ? What a disappointing case ! That's really the worst Gosho Aoyama could have done for the grand finale !

... Are you a fan of Death Note ? Seems like the "third Kira" theory.

The last chapter shows clearly that Subaru and Ran are watching the same thing at the same time.

I wonder. I don't think Gosho Aoyama would do such a thing without a reason, especially since, in these two cases, Subaru was seen as right-handed all the time, not just sometimes. I could agree that he tried to fool Masumi if that only occured in that instance, but it preceded directly the Belltree Express case where he was also right-handed in front of Yukiko Kudo and Ai Haibara. And that's where it doesn't fit: Subaru would have no reason to fake his righthandedness in front of Yukiko who is his accomplice and in front of Haibara whom he tried to convince that he was Shuichi Akai. There is also the matter of the disguise that Yukiko created: we've seen nothing about it and Subaru already had his disguise so he didn't need her (that was also part of the reason why I thought that Subaru was also another person than Akai before the current case brought that matter again). And if that Subaru was indeed another person, he surely couldn't have been Yusaku Kudo or even Yukiko considering that he discovered Conan's secret during the right-handed Subaru's first appearance. I can't think of these things having no importance, especially with this kind of resolution. Gosho Aoyama seems to know what he is doing. I may be wrong by thinking that Subaru's different main hand indicates that he is in fact two people (though it seems a logical conclusion to me in this kind of situation), but at least there should be some plausible explanation about it. Otherwise, the author wouldn't have done it.

This one is still a mystery to me: why is everyone only dealing with Subaru's handedness now, in the current case ? I mean, it's not like mere speculation or anything. It was directly shown black on white (or anyway we translate the expression "noir sur blanc" in english) in the manga.

Ok, that's exactly what I was expecting in a way: Gosho Aoyama is definitely playing with the readers' expectations. Nothing is as it appears to be. So now, the point is how this whole thing could work together. My guess right now:

I'll check it out. But on the image I saw, her hairs were dark brown and had a different form from Amuro's "mother" (who appeared to be blond), so I thought it wasn't the same person. The mysterious girl has the same eyes than Masumi ans Shuichi who look a lot like their mother. So it could be her or it could be family from her side (such as an aunt or a cousin). It could also be the middle brother, though that possibility bugs me a little. Masumi insists on the fact that they don't look alike, still they have the same eyes. I have mixed feelings about this possibility. As for the sickness, APTX-4869's victims appear to be quite vulnerable when they're sick so it might not be so out of the ordinary. Also the two appearances of the girl (as a photo on the phone and then in real life) were very close so, with Masumi wanting Conan to see the picture (she might have put it on purpose at the time), it doesn't necessarily mean that she's been sick permanently. But it's just a guess, I can't draw any conclusion on that yet. Maybe the poison is truly destroying her body or anything, I don't know. On the other side, maybe it seems a little foolish, but if I stick with the "there are two Subaru" theory, I think that the middle brother is the right-handed Subaru: -Subaru is around the same age than the friends of the middle brother (27), which may not be so meaningless as it seems. -The right-handed Subaru is shown to have much more affirmed detective skills and curiosity than his left-handed counterpart. In his first appearance, he brings the "Kinichi" lie and the disappearance of Shinichi into a conversation to have more informations about it. And the right-handed Subaru is shown to be acquainted with Yukiko and to have known about Shinichi's disappearance for some time, so surely he knew right from the start that the son of the owner is named Shinichi and that the whole "Kinichi"'s stuff was a lie (Akai would have informed him that his name was Kinichi according to what Ran told him). Strangely, he didn't seem to bother about it until now (but he would have been a different person who didn't really care) and the fact that Subaru pretends he didn't make the link with Shinichi before is in direct contradiction with Conan telling him about Shinichi when he handed over the keys of the house (something the second Subaru couldn't have known). -Another clue is the attitude of Conan. He only started to suspect that Masumi could be Shuichi's sister after he learned about her middle brother. Before that, he was only wondering if he hadn't already met her somewhere before. It may be quite possible that Conan knew Akai had a younger brother and that he didn't suspect Masumi to be their sister because he didn't know that she had two brothers (and they may have never talked to him about having a sister also). As soon as she revealed it, his attitude changed and he asked her directly. But how would he have known about Akai's brother, Shuichi being the secretive type and not disclosing unnecessary informations ? I think that Conan has already met him as the right-handed Subaru and that they're both involved in this deception. Now, it's only mere speculation but the middle brother having high skills of observation and deduction but not being a detective, he could have become a detective fiction writer like Yusaku Kudo. That would explain why Subaru talks like a detective novels writer in the current case, and his interest in the Academy Awards might be because he's also in competition. That would also explain how he got acquaintained with the Kudo. Of course, they could have only met recently through Conan, but the fact that Shinichi and Ran might have already met Masumi a long time ago leads me to think that they could have been acquaintained for longer than that. Of course, as I said, the idea of the middle brother being a detective novels writer is only a guess so far, but this hypothesis might work well with what we know so far. It's also the most evident alternative to a detective as a professional activity for someone with high skills of observation and deduction.

I didn't say that Akai wasn't Subaru, just that it couldn't have been him in all of Subaru's appearances. And I personally think that Aoyama gave way too many hints (and too obvious) about Akai being Subaru. And I think there are also enough elements to suggest the possibility of a second person posing as Subaru. Three contradictions even appeared in the same case: Subaru suddenly switching his main hand to become right-handed, the presence of Yukiko to provide him a disguise without any apparent reason (Akai already had his disguise as Subaru and he could have appeared as himself without the need of one, so he didn't need her) and his sudden interest for Shinichi's disappearance and the "Kinichi" lie. He again appeared as right-handed in the Belltree Express case (so I think both Subaru were aboard at that time, given Akai also appeared on the train). Finally, there is this pair of glasses Subaru wears in the current case which is not his usual one and which also doesn't belong to Yusaku Kudo (and Akai isn't near-sighted so he couldn't have one). A "Subaru is only Akai" theory couldn't explain all of those elements, it even creates some contradictions, so there has to be something else, something important, something no one has thought of until now and that Gosho Aoyama doesn't want us to suspect until the big reveal. I don't say that this theory is absolutely right (far from it), but it could still provide some explanations to some of the mysteries in a coherent way. I really tried to find some logic which could explain all of those elements and which could provide a whole reading of the events that entirely works from the same point of view (Subaru being not only one but two people). Really ? Personally I don't read the interviews. But still, I think it's strange that the author reveals plot elements like that. To be honest, I have thought that Elena could be the woman in the flashback as a first guess but, by checking them, I thought that they didn't look alike so I dismissed it. I've explained my reasoning. I couldn't tell more. Amuro's mother looks like a scientist and if there is only one thing we are sure about the mysterious girl, it's that she has great knowledge about technology and that she was involved with the BO at some point in time and in some way. Given that Amuro knew the Miyano, that his mother could be some kind of scientist and that the Miyano were involved with the BO, his mother could also have worked for them. Now, if this is indeed Elena Miyano in the flash-back scene, then this whole part is inaccurate. It's a game. You win or you lose. You don't have nothing to really won about it, but at least you play. I'm taking my bet on that theory and I'll see. Even if some things may be right, I'm not expecting to have correctly guessed all of it, I just wanted to find a coherent theory which could explain as many of these mysteries as possible. And personally, I think this one works well so far with the elements we know, but you can disagree with me.

Concerning Subaru and other mysteries surrounding Bourbon's arc, it would be long to write it all over again (and english is not my native language) but I've exposed my theory about Subaru being in fact two different people in the topic of the current case of the manga if some of you are interested to read it (but be warned that it's also full of spoilers). Of course, it's only theory so far so, if you want to object or if you have some remarks to make, don't hesitate. I am very interested about it. I'm really trying my best to connect everything I know about the plot and to support my theory with legitimate plot elements but there is always something I haven't thought of yet, so your remarks could be a great help to improve it. http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/forum/topic/5032-spoiler-discussion-file-894-xxx-scarlet-series/page-2 http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/forum/topic/5032-spoiler-discussion-file-894-xxx-scarlet-series/page-3

Then check the Yusaku Kudo's Cold Case (files 812-814) and the Belltree Express case (files 820-823) because it's pretty clear Subaru was right-handed on these occasions. I invent nothing, it's in the manga. Also, I've compared the two bathroom scenes (files 638 and 812). The first shot of these scenes is precisely the same with only two major differences: Masumi seeing Subaru instead of Ran (but similar position and similar expression of surprise) and Subaru's hands being reversed with the right hand holding the toothbrush and the left hand posed on the table instead of the contrary as seen in file 638. And even if he was trying to fool Masumi by acting as right-handed, he had no reason to do so in front of Haibara since he wanted her to think that he was indeed the real Shuichi Akai. He could have dropped the act. If a character is seen with a different main hand at different times, it's only logical to deduce that they are two different people. And the Belltree Express case makes perfect sense only if both Subaru were present at the same time on the train: the right-handed one the reader sees and the real Shuichi Akai (who is left-handed) to complete the illusion of Subaru being only one person and that person being Shuichi Akai. The trick is simple and he can't be discovered if the reader doesn't point out the contradiction of Subaru being right-handed in this case. But like in Yusaku Kudo's Cold Case with Subaru's neck, Aoyama used distractions to divert the reader's attention from the key point and these distractions are the mystery of the identity of Bourbon on which the reader focalises in priority and the obvious hints about Shuichi Akai being Subaru, the very illusion he wanted to give us. This one was a psychological trap but a great trick nonetheless because, while diverting the reader's attention from a key point, it's also part of the truth. Yukiko's implied presence during the Yusaku Kudo's Cold Case to perform a disguise with a wig to Subaru, Subaru's sudden allusion to the "Kinichi" matter during the first occasion he is seen as right-handed (suggesting his interest and his detective skills), and finally this second pair of glasses which are not Subaru's or Yusaku's are all more reasons to suspect a second person is posing as Subaru. And I suspect this second person to be the middle brother Masumi has been telling of, the one with strong observation and deductive skills but who is not a detective himself. Given his interest in detective stuff and the fact that he likely knows the Kudo, he could be another detective fiction writer or simply a fan of Yusaku. And such a person would surely have been intrigued by Shinichi's sudden disappearance and the obvious lie about the son's owner being a certain Kinichi, suspecting they might be hiding something from him. As Shinichi is no sorcerer, he couldn't have vanished into thin air like it appears to be so he had to still be somewhere around. And he found him. And so did his sister who was searching for him. Also, to support that theory of the second Subaru being the middle brother, I'd like to point out the fact that Conan started to really suspect that Masumi could be Akai's sister ONLY after she talks about her middle brother who is around 27. Until then, he thought she had only one brother who is said to be dead and he didn't seem to suspect she could be Akai's sister. Everything changed drastically after she talked of her middle brother with Conan making suggestions of the possibility of Masumi being Akai's sister from that moment onward. This suggests that he already knew that Akai had a brother. And Akai being a secretive person, he wouldn't have disclosed that information without any reason. So Conan knew it because he met the middle brother as the right-handed Subaru as part of their deception. But before that, Conan already had the impression that he had met Masumi somewhere in the past and he even asked her about it so there must also be something else about that. Still, it could provide some more support to the theory of the middle brother being someone that knows the Kudo well. And Masumi seems to recognize Shinichi from the first time she saw Conan, already aware of the effect of the APTX-4869, so she has probably met him as children and she must have changed a lot so Shinichi didn't recognize her (maybe she looked more feminine back then). Of course, Ran would have been with them, considering she also seems to remember Masumi from somewhere and Masumi herself making many suggestions about Ran having met her mother (maybe Ran was impressed by the length of her breasts back then, wondering if she would have such long breasts as an adult or something like that, because Masumi really insisted on it when talking about her mother). Edit: Even though most of this theory holds itself well so far, I've made a mistake about the current case: a day has gone by between Conan's realization that Bourbon has discovered the truth and the moment the man in black appears at the entrance of his house. So the right-handed Subaru wasn't in a hurry when he prepared. Still, he made a mistake by putting the wrong glasses on and these glasses are evidence enough that he is definitely someone else since Shuichi Akai is not near-sighted and Yusaku Kudo has never wear this kind of glasses (so Subaru is not Yusaku Kudo and he couldn't even have found these glasses in Kudo's house). These glasses likely belongs to the real person who poses as the right-handed Subaru and for some reason he made that crucial mistake. But why ? Then again, he was told to act like a bait so that could be enough reason to be distracted. But there might still be something else. What could have happened during that time period of 24 hours that could explain this inconsistency ? What if he couldn't wear the usual glasses for some reason so he had to use his own to replace them ? And I don't take that he simply broke them for an answer without a more specific reason, that would be too silly. But at least, if he really did broke them, it would be even more reason to suspect that he is really near-sighted and therefore that the glasses he wears currently are indeed his own (they don't come out of nowhere and they're definitely not Yusaku's who was never seen wearing this pair before, even in flash-back, so Subaru couldn't have found them in the house). Oh, by the way, concerning the mysterious girl that Masumi is hiding in her hotel room and who appears to be a victim of the APTX-4869, we can easily deduce that she has some great knowledge about technology and that she was involved at some point and in some way with the BO. A character that could fit this description is Amuro's mother who appeared to be some kind of scientist (at least, she has the look of it) and who left him due to her work in a foreign place. Still, I can't definitely assume it's her, I don't think we have enough elements to draw any conclusion on that one. Also, the girl appears to have similar eyes to Shuichi and Sera so they might be related. We don't see the eyes of Amuro's mother, hidden behind the glasses, so we can't conclude anything here but she doesn't have a big chest so we can rule out her being the same as Sera's mother. Still, if the girl and Amuro's mother are indeed one and the same, we know she couldn't be Sera's sister but she could still be her cousin or her aunt. Considering the girl shares similar eyes with Shuichi and Sera who look like their mother, she could definitely be family from her side. Meaning Amuro could be Shuichi and Masumi's cousin, explaining why Amuro knew Masumi during file 800 (at the end of the car chase). Also Amuro's past may be linked in some way to the city of London. First he has met Elena Miyano, Ai Haibara's mother, who is british. Then he has a surname who alludes to MI6, "Zero" ("Rei" in japanese). Finally, if we take Gundam's hints for granted, then there is a pretty big hint that links Amuro to this city: we know Amuro is based on Amuro Ray, a main character from Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. In Mobile Suit Gundam, he is 15-16 and a member of the army of the Earth Federation. In Zeta Gundam, he is 23 and a member of the resistance group Karaba. Finally, on his final appearance in Char's Counterattack, Amuro is 29 (precisely Touru Amuro's age) and he is a key member of a federal organization named... Londo Bell, an obvious reference to the Big Ben, symbol of the city of London. Of course, it could be only an innocent allusion, but the first two clues also link Amuro to London so we can't rule it out because it could also be of some importance as far as we know. And I said that the Academy Award is likely a red-herring which seems pretty obvious, still it's not Aoyama's style to do something without a clear reason. Even if the intention was to fool the reader into thinking the right-handed Subaru is Yusaku Kudo, there could still be another meaning. And I might have thought of something actually. If I go through with my hypothesis about the middle brother being an author of detective fiction like Yusaku, maybe Subaru isn't really faking his interest in the Academy Award after all. Maybe the ceremony is meant to reveal an important truth to the reader: the real identity of the second Subaru Okiya, the name of the middle brother of Shuichi Akai and Masumi Sera. If I go through with this line of reasoning about the middle brother being an author of detective novels, he might also be in competition for the Oscars. I wonder why it didn't occurred to me earlier when I wondered about how the Academy Awards could connect to the whole picture.

Chapter 638: Ran and Sonoko meet Subaru for the first time in the bathroom of Kudo's house. Subaru is holding his toothbrush with his left hand. Chapter 812: Ran, Sonoko and Masumi (for the first time) meet Subaru in the bathroom of Kudo's house. Subaru is holding his toothbrush with his right hand while holding a comb with his left hand in his pocket, suggesting he could even be ambidextrous. During this case, his right hand appears to be his main hand as we see him later taking a photo with his right hand from an envelope he holds in his left hand, like a right-handed person would do. Like Chekhov said, it could be that he was trying to fool Masumi but, some cases later, he was implied as right-handed again during the Belltree Express case such as how he texts on a mobile phone with his right hand or how he puts the sleeping Masumi on the couch, suggesting his right shoulder supported her upper body while he was holding her, something only right-handed people would do when holding someone. That one is possible, I admit. Subaru couldn't have known they were coming but he could have heard the girls enter in the house, especially since Masumi announced themselves upon entering. As for Amuro, I wonder if the people waiting outside of the house are really BO. I considered some files before that Amuro could be MI6 given his nickname as a child, "Zero" ("Rei", an obvious reference to Amuro Ray of Gundam), but he said that he's not a spy to Conan (and I didn't know at the time that "Zero" was also used by the japanese secret services). Still, for some reason, I doubt that the men waiting outside are really BO. There must be something else. Of course, Amuro could also have lied to protect his cover. Otherwise, as I've said, I doubt that the second Subaru is Yusaku Kudo: 1) The Academy Award could easily be a red-herring. 2) The second Subaru discovered Conan's true identity during Yusaku Kudo's Cold Case, something Yusaku was already aware of. 3) It's highly likely that the glasses the second Subaru wears in the current case are his own. The second Subaru would have disguised in a hurry, Conan having found out too late about Bourbon's suspicions, and in the confusion he wouldn't have realized he puts his own glasses and not the one Subaru is usually seen wearing. The clue is the branch of the glasses which is straight while the branch of the glasses Subaru usually wears have a rond form. In his hurry and being near-sighted, he wouldn't have realized his mistake. And the straight form of the branch also rules out the possibility of Yusaku Kudo being the second Subaru since his glasses have also a rond branch. The second Subaru is likely someone who is near-sighted and who usually wears glasses with a straight branch.

It could be that Subaru wanted to fool Masumi. But nothing confirms it so far and Subaru was implied as right-handed in the Belltree Express case without Masumi being around. As for "Kinichi", of course the two Subaru would be discussing such a thing to complete the illusion of being the same person so the second would evidently know about it. But what ticks me the most is that Subaru brings the "Kinichi" stuff into a conversation during the very first occasion he was seen as right-handed, while "Subaru" didn't seem to care before that. By thinking this second Subaru is a different person who knows the Kudo, it's evident he would have wondered about the disappearence of Shinichi and the obvious "Kinichi" lie. What happened to Shinichi ? Where would he have vanished ? Only a sorcerer could disappear like that, so he knew Shinichi must still be somewhere around. This is this very inconsistency that brings me to realize that both Subaru must have been on the Belltree Express. And also from a narrative point of view, it makes complete sense about what Aoyama was doing. Why would he revealed about Subaru being Akai in such a way ? Why would he implied it so much ? In detective litterature, it's obviously a diversion to hide something else that the author doesn't want the reader to point out. The whole thing about the Belltree Express was to give the reader the illusion that Subaru is only one person and that this person is Shuichi Akai. To accomplish that, both Subaru must have been on the train: the one we saw who is right-handed (when noticed, it's evident he isn't Shuichi Akai) and Shuichi Akai who appears at some moments to complete that illusion. Of course, in order to hide his trick (that there are two Subaru), he mustn't show the other Subaru, the left-handed one, otherwise it would become too apparent that Subaru is in fact two different persons present on the Belltree Express at the same time. Subaru must appear as much as possible to the reader to be only one person, heavily implied to be Shuichi Akai, while both were involved with this case. The whole trick could only work if the reader believes in that illusion and that's why Aoyama implied Subaru to be Akai so much during this case. Of course I've thought of that, but a left-handed person wouldn't "text" on his mobile phone using his right hand. And a left-handed person wouldn't hold a more standard phone with his left hand on his left ear, he would keep his main hand free to do other things (such as writing on a paper while listening to the phone). I'm right-handed and I naturally hold my standard phone with my left hand on my left ear so I can use my main hand to write something or other things like that, but when I texts a message on a mobile phone, I hold it with my right hand AND I text on it with the same hand at the same time. While doing it, I use my left hand if I have to touch something (such as opening a door). That's more convenient for me as right-handed and that's exactly what the second Subaru was doing. And Subaru couldn't have anticipated that Masumi would find him on the bathroom, while he hold his toothbrush with the opposing hand of before. That scene alone and the fact that Aoyama deliberately repeated a previous situation with this major inconsistancy proves that something is on here, otherwise he surely wouldn't have done it that way. And the foreshadowing is made evident (to the point the branch of the glasses is not the same) in the current case so that the reader would think something is odd only right now, while it would have already been the case for quiet some time. It's part of the trick and it could easily be explained by the fact that Conan only discovered about Bourbon's suspicions very late so Subaru wouldn't have noticed he's put the wrong glasses because he hurried. All the more reason if he is really near-sighted, he wouldn't have noticed the difference even more (and that could even explain this second pair of glasses which is not Yusaku's based on their branch). And for his off-behaviour... well, he is acting as a bait while something is on. It's not unnatural to have an strange behaviour in this kind of situation.

I don't think so. I can't picture Aoyama using a trick that makes the reader overthink to confuse him. And for his trick to work, he needed to create the illusion that Subaru Okiya was only one person, and he did just that in the Belltree Express case with Shuichi Akai. Also, the way Subaru Okiya changed his main hand is too sudden and he was seen as left-handed again later. The idea of Subaru Okiya being two persons is the most logical explanation to explain that inconsistency and it could bring a new light on the Belltree Express case. It's evident, narratively speaking, that Aoyama insists so much on the idea that Subaru and Akai are the same person so that he could hide something else from the reader. It's a decoy and the reader is so enthusiastic about this revelation that it didn't even occured to him there might be something else. It's a psychological trap and Aoyama uses the very trick he wants to hide from the reader to create that illusion (that Subaru was only one person). It is very ambitious narratively speaking and it worked: I haven't thought of it (the two Subaru being reunited on the same case) until someone pointed out the inconsistencies of this very case. Some things were impossible if Subaru is Akai while others were impossible if the real Akai wasn't on the train. So they had to be both in the Belltree Express to make perfect sense of this case. And I could think of Aoyama performing such a trick: distracting his reader from his main trick by revealing another trick so that he doesn't suspect anything. That would be Aoyama and Akai's trump card and the reader and Bourbon would have completely fallen for it until the conclusion. The only question now is who this second Subaru is ? I don't buy Yukiko at all since she was in the Belltree Express as the same time as Akai and the second Subaru. I considered the possibility of Yusaku Kudo since he was seemingly absent of the Belltree Express while Yukiko was in it, but I doubt it since the second Subaru discovered Conan's true identity during Yusaku Kudo's cold case. The Academy Award is an obvious red herring but it could still have another meaning (maybe to cover some sound). So my best bet is: the middle brother. Of the middle brother, we know that he is around 27, that he has some great deductive skills but he isn't a detective and, if he is indeed the second Subaru, that he is likely someone who knows Shinichi's parents. Might be an author of detective fiction or simply a fan of Yusaku. Also, maybe it isn't that he didn't want Masumi to stay at his house but maybe he couldn't because he wasn't in it because he was staying with Akai in the Kudo's house. And knowing the Kudo, he would have wondered what happened to their son, finding this whole "Kinichi" stuff strange and bringing this subject subtly in a later conversation (who occured in the first case the "right-handed" Subaru was seen). What happened to Shinichi, the boy who suddenly vanished to nowhere like magic, was surely a mystery he had on his mind for some time if he knows his parents. Disappearing into thin air like that might need a real sorcerer to accomplish such an act. And Shinichi is no sorcerer as long as everyone knows so he was still here somewhere. By the way, about the whole "sorcerer" stuff, the middle brother knew that Masumi was searching for Shinichi and that she has met Conan. When he realized that Masumi was also conscious of Conan's abilities, he wanted to confirm if she has "met the sorcerer", meaning if she is conscious to have met Shinichi. It is also a Zeta Gundam joke where the main characters, as newtypes, are subconsciously aware that they have met Char Aznable without realizing yet that he is in fact Quattro Bajeena, their ace pilot and the deuteragonist of the series. As for Bourbon, he is very close to the truth. He can't conclude the link between Conan and the Kudo yet because he doesn't have the information needed but he knows there is a connection somewhere. If he discovers the truth about Haibara or if he discovers that Conan has no legal existence and that no one even knew he existed before Shinichi's disappearance, then he would have all the infos he need.