Aniki01

I think this sequence of events makes a lot of sense and explains a great deal of things, as Mary being Asaca would also explain why Shuichi said that this case is the reason he joined the FBI, and that his father was involved despite not being an FBI member. But something that should be noted is that, since Mary is almost confirmed to be Sera's mom, does that mean that Mary took part in this incident shortly after giving birth to Sera? (this was pointed out to me before) Also, if Mary (Asaca) is Shuichi's mother, then how could the BO miss such an important piece of information and allow Shuichi to join, perhaps they don't know about Asaca's identity?

By "BO case incoming," do you mean that this case about Kohji will be continued, or that a new separate BO-related event will occur? And can you tell me how you found this out? Thank you.

In that case, is there any indication of the taps in either room being left on in the Japanese version? I think that's an important piece of information that I'm unclear about.

That's a good point your raise there, it wouldn't really make sense if Asaka was Sera's mother as she would be unfit to act as a body guard. But I just remembered how Shukichi refers to Kyoji as his "brother-in-law/step brother." Wouldn't this suggest that there was possibly another woman that was married to the Akai family father? I'm not sure of who exactly can qualify as a "brother-in-law" to Shukichi.

Would it be possible that Asaka is the Akai family mother (hence why Shuichi reveals the case has affected his father)? If this is the case, then it could be that the same person who killed Haneda Kouji gave the drug to Akai's mother, causing her to shrink and become the mysterious child? That would explain why Shuichi wanted to join the FBI, to find his mother, and the fact that Asaka is missing until today would suggest she is the mysterious child. One issue I have with this though is that Shuichi would have said that the case affected his mother as well as his father.