I’ll just write down stuff we know already, just as a review.
Review:
Spoiler:
So we know that Amuro, Akai and Scotch worked together in the BO at some point, 4 years ago (Files 936-938). It’s also common knowledge that Akai infiltrated the BO between 5 and 2 years ago. It is unknown when Bourbon infiltrated the BO, but we can be sure that when Masumi saw the trio at the train station 4 years ago, all 3 men were working for the BO, as evidenced by the fact that Bourbon calls Scotch by his alcoholic nickname.
We’ve been told that Scotch was a spy inside the BO, who was killed before they could get his real name by Vermouth (File 898). Akai later talks to Amuro over the phone about him (File 897) and says the words: “About him, I regret what happened. Even now...”. From this we can conclude that Bourbon’s hate of Akai is connected with the death of Scotch, but the details are hazy.
Later on, we learn that Scotch was an undercover agent for the Public Security Bureau, and according to Amuro, he was killed by Akai (File 938).
A quick side note: Akai, who was fond of both Scotch and Bourbon for quite some time, abruptly stopped drinking Scotch, and resorted to drinking only Bourbon (File 898).
Therefore, taking the Hidemi-Ethan scenario as a precedent, the general consensus is that the following happened:
Akai and Scotch were on a secret undercover mission. But it went south, and to protect his identity, Akai killed Scotch (possibly because Scotch asked him to). Therefore, by killing an undercover agent, Akai’s position in the BO becomes cemented and he rises through the ranks. Bourbon is in the dark about this and he thinks Akai killed him on purpose, which is the reason for their rivalry.
We’ve been told that Scotch was a spy inside the BO, who was killed before they could get his real name by Vermouth (File 898). Akai later talks to Amuro over the phone about him (File 897) and says the words: “About him, I regret what happened. Even now...”. From this we can conclude that Bourbon’s hate of Akai is connected with the death of Scotch, but the details are hazy.
Later on, we learn that Scotch was an undercover agent for the Public Security Bureau, and according to Amuro, he was killed by Akai (File 938).
A quick side note: Akai, who was fond of both Scotch and Bourbon for quite some time, abruptly stopped drinking Scotch, and resorted to drinking only Bourbon (File 898).
Therefore, taking the Hidemi-Ethan scenario as a precedent, the general consensus is that the following happened:
Akai and Scotch were on a secret undercover mission. But it went south, and to protect his identity, Akai killed Scotch (possibly because Scotch asked him to). Therefore, by killing an undercover agent, Akai’s position in the BO becomes cemented and he rises through the ranks. Bourbon is in the dark about this and he thinks Akai killed him on purpose, which is the reason for their rivalry.
Spoiler:
Scotch was actually a top-secret spy FOR the Black Organisation, IN the PSB. That is to say, he was actually a bad guy, not all the nice-guy-who-taught-guitar we’ve been thinking all along.
In the recently concluded Gosho Aoyama day interview session, there was a question about whether the BO had spies inside the police force, to which Gosho did not (or could not) give a straight answer to. So I present this –
Scotch was the spy in the police force. His work for the BO was top secret – to the point that perhaps only the Boss (or maybe even Rum) knew that he was actually loyal to the BO all along. I say this because Vermouth still thinks of Scotch as a spy from what she says in File 898. Therefore, Scotch actually being an undercover BO agent is kept secret from everyone except the Boss and Rum (maybe).
This is actually an ingenious move, because the Boss can kill two birds with one stone. By putting Scotch in the PSB, the Boss gets inside info on the police, and at the same time, Scotch can monitor if there any spies FROM the PSB in the BO – Bourbon, for example. Since the Boss is suspicious of spies in the BO, the fact that Scotch is actually a BO agent is kept in the dark from all other agents – even Vermouth.
Now going back to what happened between the trio 2-4 years ago:
Akai somehow discovered that Scotch was a double-agent – only thing being, he’s actually working for the BO and not the PSB – which is why Akai kills him. Akai feels betrayed by Scotch, who he has seen as a dear friend so far. He also knows that Amuro was also good friends with Scotch – maybe even closer than Akai was – and that Amuro has a high, gold-plated opinion of Scotch in his mind.
Therefore, Akai decides NOT to tell Amuro that Scotch was a bad guy, and instead spins the ‘he was an undercover agent and I killed him’ story, ensuring that Amuro’s memory of Scotch is not tarnished. Amuro continues to believe Scotch was actually working for the PSB when he was killed, and hates Akai ever since.
Now with the story of Scotch being killed being known in the Organisation, the Boss is in a pinch. He can’t conduct investigations on it, since he’ll have to reveal that Scotch was working for the BO and it might tip off any other REAL spies inside the BO. Therefore, he employs Scotch’s cover story as the truth, and lets it be known that ‘Scotch was working for the PSB, but he was killed by our loyal man Akai’, and all the other BO agents heave a sigh of relief.
In the recently concluded Gosho Aoyama day interview session, there was a question about whether the BO had spies inside the police force, to which Gosho did not (or could not) give a straight answer to. So I present this –
Scotch was the spy in the police force. His work for the BO was top secret – to the point that perhaps only the Boss (or maybe even Rum) knew that he was actually loyal to the BO all along. I say this because Vermouth still thinks of Scotch as a spy from what she says in File 898. Therefore, Scotch actually being an undercover BO agent is kept secret from everyone except the Boss and Rum (maybe).
This is actually an ingenious move, because the Boss can kill two birds with one stone. By putting Scotch in the PSB, the Boss gets inside info on the police, and at the same time, Scotch can monitor if there any spies FROM the PSB in the BO – Bourbon, for example. Since the Boss is suspicious of spies in the BO, the fact that Scotch is actually a BO agent is kept in the dark from all other agents – even Vermouth.
Now going back to what happened between the trio 2-4 years ago:
Akai somehow discovered that Scotch was a double-agent – only thing being, he’s actually working for the BO and not the PSB – which is why Akai kills him. Akai feels betrayed by Scotch, who he has seen as a dear friend so far. He also knows that Amuro was also good friends with Scotch – maybe even closer than Akai was – and that Amuro has a high, gold-plated opinion of Scotch in his mind.
Therefore, Akai decides NOT to tell Amuro that Scotch was a bad guy, and instead spins the ‘he was an undercover agent and I killed him’ story, ensuring that Amuro’s memory of Scotch is not tarnished. Amuro continues to believe Scotch was actually working for the PSB when he was killed, and hates Akai ever since.
Now with the story of Scotch being killed being known in the Organisation, the Boss is in a pinch. He can’t conduct investigations on it, since he’ll have to reveal that Scotch was working for the BO and it might tip off any other REAL spies inside the BO. Therefore, he employs Scotch’s cover story as the truth, and lets it be known that ‘Scotch was working for the PSB, but he was killed by our loyal man Akai’, and all the other BO agents heave a sigh of relief.
Spoiler:
Now that the theory is away, time to back it with some flimsy evidence (if you can call it that):
File 898 – Akai’s words – ‘About him, I regret what happened. Even now...”. So far, some of us might be thinking that Akai is feeling sorry that Scotch had to die, and he is feeling remorseful of that. BUT, what if it actually means that Akai regrets that Scotch – whom Amuro and perhaps Akai himself looked up to – turned out to be a spy. Akai regrets that he trusted a man who turned out to be a spy, and he considers it a personal failure.
Again File 898 – Akai mysteriously ceasing to drink Scotch. Again, the obvious answer would be that he isn’t drinking it in respect of the dead Scotch. But what if it’s actually because it disgusts Akai to drink the alcohol, since even seeing the name ‘Scotch’ evokes the memories of the man who betrayed him, and the man he eventually had to kill – probably even one of the men he least wanted to kill.
(Leap of faith I talked about) Once again, File 898 – This file also contains what I think is a case which is fraught with foreshadowing – The case of the four glasses, also called the lemon juice – vinegar case. It’s actually a pet theory of mine that the four glasses actually mean the characteristics of Rum, but it could actually apply to his case as well.
To jog your memory, there are four glasses and supposedly – 3 contain the “good” Lemon Juice, while 1 contains the “bad” Vinegar. Plot-parallels time: Consider the four glasses to be the popular (and canonical) four spies in the BO. Three of them are the “good” ones – Hidemi Hondou, Akai and Amuro. One is the “bad” one – Scotch.
File 898 – Akai’s words – ‘About him, I regret what happened. Even now...”. So far, some of us might be thinking that Akai is feeling sorry that Scotch had to die, and he is feeling remorseful of that. BUT, what if it actually means that Akai regrets that Scotch – whom Amuro and perhaps Akai himself looked up to – turned out to be a spy. Akai regrets that he trusted a man who turned out to be a spy, and he considers it a personal failure.
Again File 898 – Akai mysteriously ceasing to drink Scotch. Again, the obvious answer would be that he isn’t drinking it in respect of the dead Scotch. But what if it’s actually because it disgusts Akai to drink the alcohol, since even seeing the name ‘Scotch’ evokes the memories of the man who betrayed him, and the man he eventually had to kill – probably even one of the men he least wanted to kill.
(Leap of faith I talked about) Once again, File 898 – This file also contains what I think is a case which is fraught with foreshadowing – The case of the four glasses, also called the lemon juice – vinegar case. It’s actually a pet theory of mine that the four glasses actually mean the characteristics of Rum, but it could actually apply to his case as well.
To jog your memory, there are four glasses and supposedly – 3 contain the “good” Lemon Juice, while 1 contains the “bad” Vinegar. Plot-parallels time: Consider the four glasses to be the popular (and canonical) four spies in the BO. Three of them are the “good” ones – Hidemi Hondou, Akai and Amuro. One is the “bad” one – Scotch.
Spoiler:
To conclude, I think making Scotch a bad guy would actually be a good twist to the manga. Fans are already complaining about the abundance of spies inside the BO, and the introduction of a spy inside the police from the BO would be a good addition to the plot (though he’s dead). It also helps that the spy was actually introduced as a nice guy who took the time to teach a young girl some guitar scales, and by reversing his role and putting him as a bad guy, it also provides a grey characteristic to him, which is a good departure from the usual Black/White nature of the BO members.
The only “true” BO member who is portrayed as a gray character is Vermouth, whose human side is emphasised in the Teitan High School Ghost Story case (457-459), where Ariade even asks Jodie if Vermouth was a bad person after all. So the introduction of another grey character in Scotch would greatly help. Not to mention that if Scotch was the good guy and Akai killed him, it’s basically a rehash of the Hidemi-Ethan situation, which I doubt any of us want to see.
The only “true” BO member who is portrayed as a gray character is Vermouth, whose human side is emphasised in the Teitan High School Ghost Story case (457-459), where Ariade even asks Jodie if Vermouth was a bad person after all. So the introduction of another grey character in Scotch would greatly help. Not to mention that if Scotch was the good guy and Akai killed him, it’s basically a rehash of the Hidemi-Ethan situation, which I doubt any of us want to see.