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My copy of Volume 90 just showed up, have a higher quality thing

While he has been right with them, Shinichi's/Conan's initial suspicions/impressions/theories are... well... not always on the mark (Shuichi is a BO mole in the FBI; Eisuke is a BO agent; Rena Mizunashi killed Hidemi Hondo, then had plastic surgery to look like her; the CIA were looking for Kir at Haido Central Hospital). Sometimes, he needs additional info to realize his thoughts, initially, were lacking—that's when he gets to the truth, in those times when he's initially wrong. We're on case #21 of the Rum arc, right now. Other than the Sherry/Haibara arc and the Cell Phone arc (both 17 cases), all but one of the arcs were over twice as longer than that (Kir arc: 37 cases; Intro/Conan arc: 50 cases; Vermouth arc: 58 cases; Bourbon arc: 80 cases). In the cases of the Vermouth, Kir and Bourbon arcs, it took well beyond Case #21 until Shinichi/Conan had all the info he needed to reach the correct conclusion—I don't think it'll be any different, here (meaning, Shinichi/Conan will re-assess this initial conclusion of his at a later date and come to a different conclusion). Maybe he did. We only see pictures of the mirror, and thus, the letters he didn't cut out. Maybe that's how he sought to get past the "There's no W in 'Put on Mascara'" problem. Perilous? If Asaka really is Rum and is not Rumi, then I'm wrong, and that's that... it'll have been my third choice, which I considered unlikely, but possible. Currently, right now, yes—she's not a priority for those engaging in theory-crafting. But with how slow things have been, the past 9 years, I think we are going to see that moment come, most likely during this arc.

Now that'd be a picture to show Shuichi...

Good summary of these ideas and how they would work! Too early to tell. Yes, for now. I think Asaka is Kohji's and Amanda Hughes' killer per Conan's suspicions and because it's the simplest theory to cover the facts we have available now. I also think he stole the dying message from the crime scene as a last minute clean up, thus causing his gender to be mistaken. That sort of trick would be very in line with the methods used in the several past "conflicting witness testimony" cases (there are at least 3 of them), and explains the reason Gosho made the unusual move of waiting to append that detail to the end of the case. It's possible for something more complicated to come up (like the Wakasa = Akasa theory above), but I'm not going there until there is a reason to. I think the presence of the Black Organization at the songwriter murder case as well as Vermouth specifically asking a suspect why the song was spelt with a "Ca" rather than a "Ka" show that the Black Organization sees Asaca Rum as the correct decoding (and their motivation for investigating). It is possible the Black Organization is incorrect and the message is truly something else. If Kohji was trying to write Wakasa Rumi, I would have left the M behind turned upsidedown as a W by the mirror. There are also more elements of the dying message scene that Conan may not have considered. There is "Juke Hot(el)" and the half a heart that looks like a cursive c. For now though, I don't see a reason why the message is wrong. We have a pretty convincing answer (the BO's opinion!) that covers all the known info from the Kohji case so far, with no known contradictions that can't be explained. Same goes with Asaka=Rum. (We know Rum screwed up in the Kohji case because Gin bitched about it. Asaka killing Kohji and failing to clean up his dying message before pictures appeared seems like an appropriately large botch.) Leaping to alternate solutions just because something seems too simple or obvious can be even more perilous than taking something suspicious at face value. Oftentimes with Gosho, the simplest thing that explains all the events is the right answer. Asaka does not have enough boobage to be Mary. Asaka's hand blocking picture is low quality, but not so bad that you would miss a pair of grapefruits as displayed in the flashback. Copy from here: http://forums.dctp.ws/viewtopic.php?t=7259&start=105#p617343 I went through the Vermouth arc after it was written solo with no internet discussion or spoilers, but I got the right answer in the end because primarily because Vermouth went to school to be close to Conan and Ai, and Jodie went to the high school because she was following Araide. I missed the pictures of pictures clue and the not-aging. The NY case helped me make the major breakthroughs in figuring out Vermouth's identity and motives. That case explained the motive (loyalty shinichi and ran), and clarified her skills. I think there was a period where I thought Chris and Sharon were separate but it was Chris that appeared in NY as Sharon for reasons, but that changed sometime before the flashback to Jodie's past probably because only Sharon could be familiar enough with Yukiko -- I can't remember exactly why right now. The flashback to Jodie's past set in stone all my suspicions. I'm not sure why I never figured out the aging discrepancy, I probably overlooked it because I wanted to see if I was right on the other things and rushed. I lost my brainstorming and notes sheet doc in a comp failure years ago. It's not so much that I doubt Sakurako completely, just that beyond the little notice of Conan's behavior, she hasn't shown any signs of becoming a potential plot character This is the main difference between Tomaki and Sakurako. In terms of current plot relevant chars, Sakurako has only appeared with Shuukichi, but nothing has happened to indicate we should be suspecting her of being related to anything. Tomoaki appeared with Jodie and Haibara and Shinichi in Desperate Revival, then Akai and Jodie and Haibara in the busjack. Busjack was when Haibara's senses went nuts and told every sensible reader that Vermi was Jodie, Akai, or Tomoaki. We don't have the equivalent of a "Vermouth on a bus. Three suspects. Which one?" moment right now. We have a dozen+ recent recurring chars, a vague description of Rum, and some unconnected backstories. Sometimes background fluff characters get introduced like Azusa Enomoto, Yoko Okino, Hideo Akagi, Ryusuke Higo, or pre-Shiratori Sumiko Kobayashi. Sakurako isn't a theory priority until a Sakurako-sized gap in the plot appears or she starts hanging out with more plot chars.

Any changes made in the volume versions of the files, as compared to the raw versions? Either way, it seems we both think that Asaka's more likely to be a woman than a man (maybe Gaito Hotta was right about Asaka's gender, just for the wrong reason).

OMM: Wishing Rukia Kurosaki to return to DCW.

If Rumi was going by "Asaka," and Koji heard "Rum," somehow, before he died, then perhaps it was a double message—again, Gosho really tailored stuff, here, with the words on the mirror—Rumi's name (minus the W and I), and, her alias and the name of the killer. If the code is a double message, then he'd want the reader to know the name of the killer (Rum), the alias of the witness (Asaka), and the real name of the witness (Rumi Wakasa). For one reason or another (maybe she fled the scene because she thought she'd be implicated, arrested and convicted), Rumi didn't tell the police about what she'd seen (else it'd be in the news, she wouldn't be the prime suspect, and there'd be no need to try and get someone to solve it, if she's the one uploading the case details), but I'd say she knows more than a little about Rum. Evidently, though, she needs someone who'd know more about underworld things (about the BO). She likely saw that Kogoro Mouri had become involved in the investigation (at least, he was going to be), and, for some reason, decided to become a teacher at Teitan Elementary. This would be because she, likely, looked at all of Kogoro's cases, found out about Shinichi/Conan, and went to investigate him, to see if he really was the true Sleeping Kogoro and if he could help her track down Rum. The skills she displayed in 968 were why she was hired as Amanda's bodyguard, to begin with—considering Amanda was a big fan of Koji, this would've been ideal, if Rumi was Koji's girlfriend, hence the personal investment in tracking down Rum. The ponytail would just be how she did her hair in her 20s. At this point, there are three theories about Asaka's identity: 1) Asaka is Rum. Shinichi/Conan read Koji's dying message correctly; Rum became Amanda Hughes' bodyguard in order to kill her; Koji walked in during the murder, heard "Rum" (either some time before or just before), and tried to intervene (or was seen before he could get the police); Koji is killed by APTX 4869; perhaps, Rum's eye is gouged by Koji with the scissors found gripped in his hand, hence why pictures were taken of the mirror (the struggle between Rum and Koji could've led to the police being called by someone else); after the pictures are taken of the mirror, Rum returns and takes it, and is seen by a witness, leaving, with the mirror in his hand. 2) Asaka is Rumi. Shinichi/Conan read the first part of Koji's dying message incorrectly, mainly because he hasn't realized the second part; Rumi, perhaps Koji's girlfriend, was hired by Amanda Hughes as a bodyguard; Rumi was overpowered by Rum, but not killed, and Amanda was then killed; Koji walks in during the murder, hears "Rum" (either some time before or just before), and tries to intervene (or is seen before he can get the police); Koji is killed by APTX 4869; perhaps, Rum's eye is gouged by Koji with the scissors found gripped in his hand, hence why pictures were taken of the mirror (the struggle between Rum and Koji could've led to the police being called by someone else); after the pictures are taken of the mirror, Rumi (perhaps awakening from unconsciousness), grabs the mirror and flees, fearing she'll be suspected, arrested, and convicted, and is seen by a witness, leaving, with the mirror in her hand; Rumi goes into hiding and lays low for years (perhaps she's running from the BO as well as the authorities); Rumi sporadically uploads details of the case, hoping someone will solve it; Eventually, she learns of Kogoro Mouri's involvement, investigates, and discovers Conan Edogawa; Rumi applies to become a teacher at Teitan High, and is hired; Rumi, on her first day, tests Shinichi's/Conan's intelligence in order to see if he's the true Sleeping Kogoro, so she can then approach him about the case, and see if he can lead her to Rum, and get revenge for what he did to her. 3) Asaka is neither Rum nor Rumi, but someone else. Shinichi/Conan read Koji's dying message incorrectly (in terms of Asaka not being Rum); either a BO agent (not Rum) became Amanda's bodyguard to make it easier for Rum to kill her, or someone like Mary was brought in as Amanda's bodyguard; either Koji walked in during the murder, heard "Rum" (either some time before or just before, likely from Asaka), and tried to intervene (or was seen before he could get the police), or Mary (or whoever was brought in as the bodyguard) was overpowered by Rum, but not killed, and Amanda was then killed; either Koji is killed by APTX 4869 administered to him by Rum, or Koji is killed by APTX 4869 administered to him by Rum or by Asaka; perhaps, Rum's eye is gouged by Koji with the scissors found gripped in his hand, hence why pictures were taken of the mirror (the struggle between Rum and Koji could've led to the police being called by someone else)—in this case, if Asaka is a BO agent, they'd be the one to administer APTX to Koji; either Rum flees the scene (especially if his eye is gouged), and after the pictures are taken of the mirror, Asaka and takes it, and is seen by a witness, leaving, with the mirror in his hand, or after the pictures are taken of the mirror, Mary (or whoever the bodyguard brought in is, perhaps awakening from unconsciousness), grabs the mirror and flees, and is seen by a witness, leaving, with the mirror in their hand (in either scenario, Rumi could still have been Koji's girlfriend, and still could be one uploading the case's details). For that instant, we see the "........." on Page 17 of File 330—he never thinks about it, after that moment (at least, we're not shown him thinking about it... or about the behavioral inconsistencies (355–357/274–275)). Vermouth could've been Jodie, as Gosho wanted us to think, at the time. Only those who noted certain hints (File 340, Page 18/File 343, Page 18) and recalled Gosho's tendencies to make the least suspicious/harmless character the culprit realized that Vermouth was Tomoaki. http://bato.to/reader#1a9d982780e85db0_16 http://bato.to/reader#1a9d982780e85db0_17 Plus, if Shinichi/Conan thought that Shuichi's presence during that case was due to James, he'd associate James with Shuichi, who he, for some time, thought was a BO agent. He wasn't bothered by Shinichi/Conan to the degree of Shuichi, Jodie and Tomoaki/Vermouth, yes, but that was because after his intro case (325–327/258–259), he didn't appear until the Vermouth arc was over. Gosho could've had him appear even more suspicious.