Discussion Thread: Detective Conan 1,061-1066

[iiRoYaL]

Spoiler:

In my opinion, the only convincing argument of Wakita not being RUM is that Wakita doesn’t have a pupil at all, even though RUM is supposed to have an artificial eye. If he’s RUM then why Gosho stressed on this trait just before the reveal.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

Spoiler pics: https://imgur.com/a/Q3mf7ba

Eh... for prosperity sake, I'll put the following in a spoiler box lol

Spoiler:

I'm pleasantly surprised Gosho made this reveal in this case cause I thought he'll drag this out a bit more. That's the only thing I'm surprised about, though

Wakita being Rum was always the most likely possibility. The "time is money" bit and the lack of meeting Haibara were the prime giveaways.

And lol looks like I was right on the money to bring back the theory of the old man from the warehouse. Imma pat myself on the back for that one

Truly deserves a big pat on the back for that. In just the nick of time, you uncovered what imo was the most surprising part of the reveal (apart from the shock-value of a reveal suddenly hitting us in this case).

Yep, exactly.

Spoiler:

Though I'd like to hear if you're in the group that thinks Kanenori isn't Rum and this is all a fakeout. After all, you always thought Kanenori would be BO, but not Rum. So I'd like to hear how we get to a Muga = Rum reveal from here, if you still think that's Goshō's endgame.

[MeiTanteixX]

Spoiler:

Though I'd like to hear if you're in the group that thinks Kanenori isn't Rum and this is all a fakeout. After all, you always thought Kanenori would be BO, but not Rum. So I'd like to hear how we get to a Muga = Rum reveal from here, if you still think that's Goshō's endgame.

The information in File 1065, followed by File 1066 reveal does indeed drastically change my viewpoints on Rum and the road map to Rum's resolution.

Spoiler:

Starting from File 1065, we learned that Rum's 3 inconsistent descriptions were deliberate rumors that Rum spread to hide his true appearance and identity and that only prosthetic eye was correct. The conclusion I came to from this vital information update is that Rum might possess mainly 1 of these 3 descriptions and that he spread the other 2 rumors along with it so that if by chance any member got a look at him and spread what they witnessed, the truth would be camouflaged among 3 indistinguishable rumors.

Then came the 2 vital information that connect with File 1066, which is that Rum has changed his face and uses a silly name.
Here is where the major shifts starts, since we get what is in my opinion undeniable indications that Rum is indeed Wakita (amongst the 3, as SDB BLACK+ indicated, without foulplay).
Rum was seen silhouetted mentioning in his recurring polite speech style the "nostalgic story" from 2 years ago during Rye's exposure, which was soon after followed by an old man sitting in the same car as Rum (with a similar enough driver), recalling the same incident that Rum did, being revealed to be the old man from that Rye loyalty test incident and is shown to clearly possess the one feature that is true about Rum, a prosthetic eye (depicted/revealed in the same way as Kuroda's), and that old man is revealed to be Wakita Kanenori without a wig, moustache, buckteeth and Eyepatch. If that wasn't enough, we got another File 1008 situation, where the side-note of File 1066 states that he is "the man with a silly name" (despite the story not even clearing up directly how "Wakita Kanenori" is a silly name), which is essentially handing out the confirmation to the reader that Wakita Kanenori is Rum (similarly to how we got a Boss identity confirmation in the side-note without the story directly addressing it as such).

That being said however... We ended File 1066 with Team Conan just starting to learn about the new hints "changed his face" and "uses a silly name", just before the aforementioned reveal. We got no sign of resolution whatsoever to the Rum mystery. And when it comes to build-up towards the mystery climax, we had none of Gosho's traditional case setup where all the suspects/players in the overarching mystery comes together as the titular antagonist's goals takes the spotlight and the detective (Conan) has pieced the mystery behind antagonist's identity together. To me, this was the biggest indicator that Wakita being Rum is being treated as nothing more than just a "surface reveal" to a more crucial twist/reveal regarding Rum that is being saved for Conan to solve, leading to a future proper Rum mystery resolution (like the Halloween ship case and Mystery train case).
This reveal also surfaced another important indication, that further supported this notion. Rum's old man appearance was used completely undisguised/unaltered as he directly approached a potential traitor (Rye) 2 years ago, which is contradictory to the established behavior/M.O of Rum, where he not only conceals his voice with a voice changer, but even goes as far as to spread misleading rumors of himself, all in order to hide his identity. This further makes it seem like the old man appearance is nothing more than a disguise from the very beginning, which further goes in line with the established information in File 1065 that Rum has changed his face. This is nothing uncommon, considering that Gosho has done the exact same stunt with Bourbon during his arc, where he appeared fully disguised, through Vermouth's assistance, and even was able to fake a voice as Benzaki (albeit with the disguise of a hoarse voice from a cold). As Vermouth's superior, full-on disguises with face mask is an asset that Rum has full access to.

Therefore, I'm seeing this as merely the beginning towards a real Rum climax, where Rum's/the old man's real identity and face is gonna be revealed (which may or may not happen during the "main event" that Gin foreshadowed in File 1062). Basically, we have resolved the "Bourbon arc"-formulated part of the story, and are potentially venturing into the "Vermouth arc"-formulated part of the story.
This would be the moment where a hidden suspect/suspicious character in Rum arc could come into play, and of course, Iori Muga, the "exceedingly impatient", seemingly english-influenced effeminate butler with a polite speech style, is still on the forefront as the end-goal reveal to me. There naturally will rise questions of how he manages his time as a butler for the Oooka household (to surveillance the Haneda family) and as a part-time chef (to watch over the detective who might be investigating the Kohji case), but due to lack of information on both ends (Wakita's and Iori's work schedules), it's something left to explore (like for example, how much free time he is given by Momiji).

My final judgement on this Rum reveal is therefore put on hold until we reach an actual Rum mystery climax/resolution. However, for the sake of argument, in the unlikely event that this is it for the Rum identity reveal (and there are no more layers to the mystery), then this is straight up the lowest point in terms of Gosho's mystery/who-dunnit writing... even lower than if he had properly setup a Rum identity climax and resolution for the same result (like Mystery train).
Overall however, I truly enjoyed this chapter and this case as a whole, and despite any potential criticisms I might form in the future of this Rum reveal, File 1066 was still my favorite chapter of this case and I'm very happy about the twist (and especially its delivery) that the old man from Kir arc was Rum all along.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

Spoiler:

We ended File 1066 with Team Conan just starting to learn about the new hints "changed his face" and "uses a silly name", just before the aforementioned reveal. We got no sign of resolution whatsoever to the Rum mystery. And when it comes to build-up towards the mystery climax, we had none of Gosho's traditional case setup where all the suspects/players in the overarching mystery comes together as the titular antagonist's goals takes the spotlight and the detective (Conan) has pieced the mystery behind antagonist's identity together. To me, this was the biggest indicator that Wakita being Rum is being treated as nothing more than just a "surface reveal" to a more crucial twist/reveal regarding Rum that is being saved for Conan to solve, leading to a future proper Rum mystery resolution (like the Halloween ship case and Mystery train case).

Spoiler:

Yeah, like how Chris Vineyard was revealed to be Vermouth right at the start of her arc, and only by the arc's end was she revealed to be the same person as Sharon Vineyard and that she'd also impersonated Tomoaki Ariade.

We still have no idea what Rum's master plan is (Gin's "main event" reference from 1,062 is indeed noteworthy, in that regard—it's absolutely a signal to us from Goshō of something down the road... the hope is this will pan out sooner rather than later), or what Team Kudō, Shūichi and Rei/Bourbon are planning (File 1,012/Episode 954), and, likely, we will only become aware of the intricacies of these plans when the big confrontation actually happens.

Spoiler:

This reveal also surfaced another important indication, that further supported this notion. Rum's old man appearance was used completely undisguised/unaltered as he directly approached a potential traitor (Rye) 2 years ago, which is contradictory to the established behavior/M.O of Rum, where he not only conceals his voice with a voice changer, but even goes as far as to spread misleading rumors of himself, all in order to hide his identity. This further makes it seem like the old man appearance is nothing more than a disguise from the very beginning, which further goes in line with the established information in File 1065 that Rum has changed his face. This is nothing uncommon, considering that Gosho has done the exact same stunt with Bourbon during his arc, where he appeared fully disguised, through Vermouth's assistance, and even was able to fake a voice as Benzaki (albeit with the disguise of a hoarse voice from a cold). As Vermouth's superior, full-on disguises with face mask is an asset that Rum has full access to.

I'm seeing this as merely the beginning towards a real Rum climax, where Rum's/the old man's real identity and face is gonna be revealed (which may or may not happen during the "main event" that Gin foreshadowed in File 1062. Basically, we have resolved the "Bourbon arc"-formulated part of the story, and are potentially venturing into the "Vermouth arc"-formulated part of the story.
This would be the moment where a hidden suspect/suspicious character in Rum arc could come into play, and of course, Iori Muga, the "exceedingly impatient", seemingly english-influenced effeminate butler with a polite speech style, is still on the forefront as the end-goal reveal to me. There naturally will rise questions of how he manages his time as a butler for the Oooka household (to surveillance the Haneda family) and as a part-time chef (to watch over the detective who might be investigating the Kohji case), but due to lack of information on both ends (Wakita's and Iori's work schedules), it's something left to explore (like for example, how much free time he is given by Momiji).

Spoiler:

If not Muga, who else do you think could be beneath the bald old man disguise?

At this point, the only hope for a 4th suspect turning out to be Rum after all is one of these 4th suspects is wearing a two-layered disguise courtesy of Vermouth, top layer Kanenori Wakita, bottom layer the old man from CoRaB.

[MeiTanteixX]

Spoiler:

At this point, the only hope for a 4th suspect turning out to be Rum after all is one of these 4th suspects is wearing a two-layered disguise courtesy of Vermouth, top layer Kanenori Wakita, bottom layer the old man from CoRaB.

Spoiler:

Considering that Rum used the same appearance 2 years ago as what he currently has as a template for his "Wakita" disguise, it's even likely that he was taught by Vermouth to do that one "old man" disguise (similar to Akai with his "Subaru" disguise), and then to change it up for his new "Wakita" role, he made these simple add-ons.

Interesting to note how we just recently had the concept of "someone disguising as an old man" used in Hatoyama farm case (File 1054), so it's certainly within Gosho's parameters of tricks for this arc.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

Spoiler:

At this point, the only hope for a 4th suspect turning out to be Rum after all is one of these 4th suspects is wearing a two-layered disguise courtesy of Vermouth, top layer Kanenori Wakita, bottom layer the old man from CoRaB.

Spoiler:

Considering that Rum used the same appearance 2 years ago as what he currently has as a template for his "Wakita" disguise, it's even likely that he was taught by Vermouth to do that one "old man" disguise (similar to Akai with his "Subaru" disguise), and then to change it up for his new "Wakita" role, he made these simple add-ons.

Interesting to note how we just recently had the concept of "someone disguising as an old man" used in Hatoyama farm case (File 1054), so it's certainly within Gosho's parameters of tricks for this arc.

Spoiler:

If Muga isn't Rum, then who do you think would be doing this disguise trick?

[MeiTanteixX]

Spoiler:

If Muga isn't Rum, then who do you think would be doing this disguise trick?

Spoiler:

Definitely not Kuroda and Rumi, since their Rum suspect roles should not only have been resolved with this Rum reveal, but also because of the fact that Kuroda appeared the same time as Rum elsewhere (File 1030) and Rumi was treated as a second person by Rum (File 980).

[Shinan-Kudogawa]

Spoiler:

Though I'd like to hear if you're in the group that thinks Kanenori isn't Rum and this is all a fakeout. After all, you always thought Kanenori would be BO, but not Rum. So I'd like to hear how we get to a Muga = Rum reveal from here, if you still think that's Goshō's endgame.

The information in File 1065, followed by File 1066 reveal does indeed drastically change my viewpoints on Rum and the road map to Rum's resolution.

Spoiler:

Starting from File 1065, we learned that Rum's 3 inconsistent descriptions were deliberate rumors that Rum spread to hide his true appearance and identity and that only prosthetic eye was correct. The conclusion I came to from this vital information update is that Rum might possess mainly 1 of these 3 descriptions and that he spread the other 2 rumors along with it so that if by chance any member got a look at him and spread what they witnessed, the truth would be camouflaged among 3 indistinguishable rumors.

Then came the 2 vital information that connect with File 1066, which is that Rum has changed his face and uses a silly name.
Here is where the major shifts starts, since we get what is in my opinion undeniable indications that Rum is indeed Wakita (amongst the 3, as SDB BLACK+ indicated, without foulplay).
Rum was seen silhouetted mentioning in his recurring polite speech style the "nostalgic story" from 2 years ago during Rye's exposure, which was soon after followed by an old man sitting in the same car as Rum (with a similar enough driver), recalling the same incident that Rum did, being revealed to be the old man from that Rye loyalty test incident and is shown to clearly possess the one feature that is true about Rum, a prosthetic eye (depicted/revealed in the same way as Kuroda's), and that old man is revealed to be Wakita Kanenori without a wig, moustache, buckteeth and Eyepatch. If that wasn't enough, we got another File 1008 situation, where the side-note of File 1066 states that he is "the man with a silly name" (despite the story not even clearing up directly how "Wakita Kanenori" is a silly name), which is essentially handing out the confirmation to the reader that Wakita Kanenori is Rum (similarly to how we got a Boss identity confirmation in the side-note without the story directly addressing it as such).

That being said however... We ended File 1066 with Team Conan just starting to learn about the new hints "changed his face" and "uses a silly name", just before the aforementioned reveal. We got no sign of resolution whatsoever to the Rum mystery. And when it comes to build-up towards the mystery climax, we had none of Gosho's traditional case setup where all the suspects/players in the overarching mystery comes together as the titular antagonist's goals takes the spotlight and the detective (Conan) has pieced the mystery behind antagonist's identity together. To me, this was the biggest indicator that Wakita being Rum is being treated as nothing more than just a "surface reveal" to a more crucial twist/reveal regarding Rum that is being saved for Conan to solve, leading to a future proper Rum mystery resolution (like the Halloween ship case and Mystery train case).
This reveal also surfaced another important indication, that further supported this notion. Rum's old man appearance was used completely undisguised/unaltered as he directly approached a potential traitor (Rye) 2 years ago, which is contradictory to the established behavior/M.O of Rum, where he not only conceals his voice with a voice changer, but even goes as far as to spread misleading rumors of himself, all in order to hide his identity. This further makes it seem like the old man appearance is nothing more than a disguise from the very beginning, which further goes in line with the established information in File 1065 that Rum has changed his face. This is nothing uncommon, considering that Gosho has done the exact same stunt with Bourbon during his arc, where he appeared fully disguised, through Vermouth's assistance, and even was able to fake a voice as Benzaki (albeit with the disguise of a hoarse voice from a cold). As Vermouth's superior, full-on disguises with face mask is an asset that Rum has full access to.

Therefore, I'm seeing this as merely the beginning towards a real Rum climax, where Rum's/the old man's real identity and face is gonna be revealed (which may or may not happen during the "main event" that Gin foreshadowed in File 1062). Basically, we have resolved the "Bourbon arc"-formulated part of the story, and are potentially venturing into the "Vermouth arc"-formulated part of the story.
This would be the moment where a hidden suspect/suspicious character in Rum arc could come into play, and of course, Iori Muga, the "exceedingly impatient", seemingly english-influenced effeminate butler with a polite speech style, is still on the forefront as the end-goal reveal to me. There naturally will rise questions of how he manages his time as a butler for the Oooka household (to surveillance the Haneda family) and as a part-time chef (to watch over the detective who might be investigating the Kohji case), but due to lack of information on both ends (Wakita's and Iori's work schedules), it's something left to explore (like for example, how much free time he is given by Momiji).

My final judgement on this Rum reveal is therefore put on hold until we reach an actual Rum mystery climax/resolution. However, for the sake of argument, in the unlikely event that this is it for the Rum identity reveal (and there are no more layers to the mystery), then this is straight up the lowest point in terms of Gosho's mystery/who-dunnit writing... even lower than if he had properly setup a Rum identity climax and resolution for the same result (like Mystery train).
Overall however, I truly enjoyed this chapter and this case as a whole, and despite any potential criticisms I might form in the future of this Rum reveal, File 1066 was still my favorite chapter of this case and I'm very happy about the twist (and especially its delivery) that the old man from Kir arc was Rum all along.

Spoiler:

Indeed, I would take it as a possible scenario, that as I mentioned it is rather a less than a grandoise manner to reveal the 2nd most important BO member. It does may, as you mentioned, a more Vermouth arc approach, in the sense that some might think it was Joide who is Vermouth, only to be Araide/Chris all along. And since this is the 2nd most important member to BO, it might be the case, that unlike Sharon disguising herself as a younger person/deaged, Rum is a young person acting as an older one to maintain supermacy over agents, and to mislead everyone regarding his ID. If Gosho is heading towards a more complex trickful reveal, and that it may be Muga Iori like we mentioned, then Wakita is the old man diguise under which is Muga?.

Regarding Ooka family, and Muga being a butler, it may as well be than in the Ooka manor there are lots of butlers to serve the family. While Muga is more of an outdoors security butler, that whenever Momiji is inside, his service isn't required and he is free to do as he wills. If they may appear in the next case, it will be a strong indication of Muga's involvement.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

Spoiler:

Definitely not Kuroda and Rumi, since their Rum suspect roles should not only have been resolved with this Rum reveal, but also because of the fact that Kuroda appeared the same time as Rum elsewhere (File 1030) and Rumi was treated as a second person by Rum (File 980).

Spoiler:

Do you think there's any meaning behind Rum/Kanenori and Hyōe not yet encountering each other? Do you think it would reveal something big, and that's why Goshō hasn't done it, yet?

And what does Rum being Kanenori mean for his comment about Rumi? Is he aware of who she is and just what she's after, or is he in the dark about her identity and intentions? And if he is in the dark, why hasn't he yet sated his curiosity?

Only other person it could be by my book is Chikara, but as Kor's mentioned, him having a daughter—and considering she doesn't seem to have any hidden sinister layers to her character—seems to clear him of being secretly #2 of a criminal organization, since such a person raising a normal daughter doesn't seem likely for Goshō to go with. Plus, there's the fact that Rum's/Kanenori's face is more angular, whereas Chikara's face is more rounded.

Though how Muga would have the time to go between Kyotō and Tokyo on such a regular basis is a point that needs to be addressed, as you said. That would imply Momiji doesn't require/want his services that much, enough to get him free time that covers a round trip from Kyoto to Tokyo and then spend much of the day in Tokyo before heading back. Either that, or he's asked Vermouth to stand in as him and attend to Momiji when he needs to assume his other identity.

At this point, in terms of a 4th suspect turning out to be Rum, I think it's more likely that Muga's our guy, rather than Chikara. But it's really down to just the two them, in any case—it comes down to whether Gosho decided to introduce Rum at the start of the arc or well into it.

Spoiler:

If they may appear in the next case, it will be a strong indication of Muga's involvement.

Spoiler:

And of course, whether Rum/Kanenori appears or not during such a case could be key (depending, of course, on where the case would take place and which characters would be involved)—if Rum/Kanenori appears at the same time as Muga, then the theory takes a hit (though Vermouth being in disguise as one of them could very well turn out to be the possibility that would keep it alive), but if not, then it, depending on the context the case gives us, will either help the theory, or, at the very least, not adversely affect the theory.

[MeiTanteixX]

Spoiler:

Do you think there's any meaning behind Rum/Kanenori and Hyōe not yet encountering each other? Do you think it would reveal something big, and that's why Goshō hasn't done it, yet?

And what does Rum being Kanenori mean for his comment about Rumi? Is he aware of who she is and just what she's after, or is he in the dark about her identity and intentions? And if he is in the dark, why hasn't he yet sated his curiosity?

Only other person it could be by my book is Chikara, but as Kor's mentioned, him having a daughter—and considering she doesn't seem to have any hidden sinister layers to her character—seems to clear him of being secretly #2 of a criminal organization, since such a person raising a normal daughter doesn't seem likely for Goshō to go with.

Though how Muga would have the time to go between Kyotō and Tokyo on such a regular basis is a point that needs to be addressed, as you said. That would imply Momiji doesn't require/want his services that much, enough to get him free time that covers a round trip from Kyoto to Tokyo and then spend much of the day in Tokyo before heading back. Either that, or he's asked Vermouth to stand in as him and attend to Momiji when he needs to assume his other identity.

Spoiler:

Can't say I do. Could in fact be an indication that there is no direct relevant history between them as well, unlike between Kuroda and Rumi. Perhaps Gosho is respecting Kuroda's intelligence/skills by having him not hear the name "Wakita Kanenori", because it would be enough for Kuroda to see the anagram for "Toki wa Kane nari"/"Time is Money" (which he most likely got reports of from Bourbon as being Rum's petphrase). He definitely didn't waste time to seemingly notice the almost-anagram "Wakasa Rumi" (File 980) for the dying message (based on how he stared at the dying message soon after in File 987).

Could be that he is aware of her true identity (meaning that she is a BO member that he doesn't view as an enemy), or that he is simply made aware of her existence for future purposes. That scene is vague enough for both directions to be equally possible.

I think that the lack of direct activity from Chikara for this long, as well as his lack of impatience, just further makes him less likely to be an "Araide" of this arc (who showed both signs of fitting with Vermouth and appeared often enough to be potentially relevant).

Though not impossible in theory... I'm gonna lean towards that being unlikely, due to my Wakasa theory.

Spoiler:

At this point, in terms of a 4th suspect turning out to be Rum, I think it's more likely that Muga's our guy, rather than Chikara. But it's really down to just the two them, in any case—it comes down to whether Gosho decided to introduce Rum at the start of the arc or well into it.

Spoiler:

To further build on the likelihood, I'll share this with you that I mapped out recently:

Timelime hypothesis on Rum's actions as "Wakita Kanenori" (Fake appearance) & "Iori Muga" (True appearance):

File 975-977: Rum makes a move to get close to Mouri Kogoro after suspecting his involvement in Hotta Gaito's Kohji case investigation (after File 953) by disguising and becoming an employee in Iroha restaurant, next to Mouri agency.

File 980: Rum is shown to be aware of Rumi's existence.

File 981-983: Rum coincidentally stumbles upon Bourbon in Cafe Poirot while tailing Heiji, leading to him becoming suspicious of his closeness to Kogoro, as well as trying to flee from the scene to avoid further involvement and contact with Bourbon (in his true appearance) during a potential case after hearing someone screamed.

File 1002-1003: Rum appears to help Momiji, and then leaves for a moment. After Shinichi and Heiji leaves with Ayanokoji, Rum appears and by chance misses Kudo Shinichi.

File 1005: Rum sees Kudo Shinichi in the headlines and becomes suspicious of his alleged death.

File 1008: Rum makes an attempt to get close to the Kudo mansion in order to investigate Shinichi (after possibly already confirming with Momiji that Shinichi was involved), but fails due to the media's gathering. Rum then sees a suspicious contradictory redaction from the blogger, and realizes that there is a cover up and orders Bourbon by message to investigate Kudo Shinichi, mainly because he saw him in Café Poirot under Mouri agency/home, where Ran, Momiji's friend who is Kudo Shinichi's classmate, lives and can more easily get info for him (and possibly to test his loyalty after noticing his suspicious closeness to someone that he suspects is investigating the Kohji case).

File 1011-1012: Rum gets impatient and stresses Bourbon. He then gets some kind of reply from Bourbon (maybe that Kudo Yusaku came to Japan) that is suspiciously lacking info.

File 1027-1031: He decides to investigate Bourbon as well (as a potential traitor) and joins in on the Mouri case, by looking into his relationship with Kogoro, and notices that Conan is smart for a kid and is close with Bourbon.

File 1039-1042: He tells Momiji to involve Kudo Shinichi in her challenge to Heiji, in order to start investigating him himself, but then starts noticing that Conan is close to Shinichi too. He then starts observing Conan more closely (to the point of later noticing a shift in his expression) and even rushes Momiji (by telling her about Heiji's romance plans) into offering him for Kudo Shinichi to rely on so he can directly converse with him and figure out his whereabouts, but fails.

File 1055-1057: Rum continues his Kogoro investigation, and while solving the case also relies on and acknowledges Conan's capabilities (after having observed him with Bourbon and Heiji in the past) and decides to test his Kohji case knowledge, in case Conan got involved with Kogoro's potential investigation, but fails to get a revealing reaction.

File 1058-1060: Rum sends Vermouth instead of suspicious Bourbon to investigate Kudo Yusaku, and once again fails to get any helpful information.

[DCUniverseAficionado]

Spoiler:

Can't say I do. Could in fact be an indication that there is no direct relevant history between them as well, unlike between Kuroda and Rumi. Perhaps Gosho is respecting Kuroda's intelligence/skills by having him not hear the name "Wakita Kanenori", because it would be enough for Kuroda to see the anagram for "Toki wa Kane nari"/"Time is Money" (which he most likely got reports of from Bourbon as being Rum's petphrase). He definitely didn't waste time to seemingly notice the almost-anagram "Wakasa Rumi" (File 980) for the dying message (based on how he stared at the dying message soon after in File 987).

Could be that he is aware of her true identity (meaning that she is a BO member that he doesn't view as an enemy), or that he is simply made aware of her existence for future purposes. That scene is vague enough for both directions to be equally possible.

I think that the lack of direct activity from Chikara for this long, as well as his lack of impatience, just further makes him less likely to be an "Araide" of this arc (who showed both signs of fitting with Vermouth and appeared often enough to be potentially relevant).

Though not impossible in theory... I'm gonna lean towards that being unlikely, due to my Wakasa theory.

Spoiler:

Well, no one on Team Kudō's side thought Kanenori Wakita was uniquely suspicious up to this current point—given how Shūichi and Shinichi/Conan reacted to the "silly name" detail provided by Andre, it's likely that the plan the Kudōs, Shūichi and Rei/Bourbon discussed was not based around a determination of who Rum really was. Rei/Bourbon wasn't even aware of Kanenori Wakita until 1,027–1,031, and I don't think it's likely he contacted Hyōe off-screen (technically off-panel) during that case to tell him about Kanenori, so when Hyōe called Taka'aki/Kōmei, it was likely only to tell him that Rei/Bourbon was undercover, so he shouldn't blow his cover by talking about any prior association with Hiromitsu/Scotch, and that the NPA was after a big figure in this secret crime organization whose catchphrase was "time is money."
And with Rei/Bourbon nowhere to be found in 1,061–1,066, until he hears this new info that Andre got, he's likely not going to derive that Kanenori Wakita is worth mentioning to Hyōe.

Well, he seems to be praising her for getting media attention. Given how against that the BO usually is—and how determined Rum is to investigate and suppress any potential info about the Kōji case—one would think this means Rumi's stunt is a lure orchestrated by Rum and the BO. After all, Rumi doesn't seem to be getting pressure from the BO over the absolute disaster they think media attention is. So this would seem to be Rum's attempt to find out who really has the dirt on the Kōji case by luring them out and then eliminating them.

Of course, this would be rectified if he's been Kanenori this whole time.

Alright, so then we still have the problem of how in spite of being so close to Momiji, to the point she has him assisting heavily with her intimately personal romantic ventures—from just standing there by her side for hours, waiting on her hand and foot (990–993/916–917 and 1,039–1,042) to stalking Heiji in her stead while she watches live (981–983/885–886)—he has spare time for a Kyoto-Tokyo-Kyoto trip, all the while having another job.

Spoiler:

File 1002-1003: Rum appears to help Momiji, and then leaves for a moment. After Shinichi and Heiji leaves with Ayanokoji, Rum appears and by chance misses Kudo Shinichi.

Spoiler:

If you look at the panels, you can see he's looking at Heiji as Shinichi runs up to Heiji from behind. Now, if his left eye is truly artificial, I suppose if he never turned to fully face the direction his head was tilted towards, then I suppose that would all work.
But then there's the matter of him not being present when Shinichi's doing the "a-le-le" and when he and Heiji are recorded by the media—a point where if he was there, he'd surely see Shinichi fully and even get a chance to ask who this boy was if he himself wasn't sure this was Shinichi Kudō—only to suddenly appear after Shinichi and Heiji had gone elsewhere with Ayanokōji to talk about the case. If Muga's not Rum, that's just a strange detail. If he is, that may very well be evidence... rather convenient evidence, if Goshō doesn't explain why he didn't immediately follow Momiji, especially after she'd just been nearly accosted... but evidence nonetheless.

[Mohamed Ebrahem]

When we go back in such episodes 901 902 , we have a hint that you may conclude the writer of 2 messages are different when there is difference in manner of writing , such as writing a comma by Eri Kisaki .

Rum sent two messages to Bourbon asking him to investigate Kudo Shinchi ,,, but when you carefully examine the two messages , we conclude the way is written in both is different , so may be the writer of the two messages are different , which means there is another person who may use name of RUM at sometimes .

The first message from Rum to Bourbon was in Chapter 1008 ,,, in that chapter also we knew Karasuma ,,, so I think the first message to Bourbon was from Karasuma / Rum / Chikara Katsumata .

While the second message was in chapter 1011 , in that chapter the girls were dressed as Rabbits , so this might be a hint that Wakita who looks like Rabbits was the one who sent that second message to Bourbon .

Maybe RUM / Chikara who ordered Wakita to do that . it seems Wakita is the organization's spy hunter , Wakita was able to reveal Akai's cover as an FBI agent , so I think also he is the one who exposed Scotch's cover being an NPA agent , and now it's Bourbon's turn because Chikara / RUM doubts him . So Chikara ordered Wakita to watch Mouri Kogoro and also watch Bourbon .

There are few different details that I noticed in the two messages :
1- The sentence " time is money" in the first message written in the middle of speech , while in the second message at the end .
2- Rum signature is very far from speech in first message , meaning there is a big break between it and speech , while in second message , the signature is close to speech .

There may be some other differences , but it seems that Wakita is a very close assistant to Rum as Wakita hinted in his first appearance when he talked about hint of Yaiba , but real RUM/Chikara we know is the one who actually has a left prosthetic eye and a very secret identity .

Another note that may be important , but it hasn't relation with the current chapters :
In chapter 344 , Agasa was talking as a flashback about Sharon's Vineyard fake funeral , there was an old man painted so clearly in that flashback .... Who do we have here , Karasuma Renya ??



Bourbon said at beginning of arc RUM that there is a relationship between Vermouth and the boss , so the relationship i expected between Rum / Karasuma / former boss and Vermouth may be she is his daughter .

[Kor]

Does this butler theory still exist because you really hope that the butler still somehow has a part to play in this, or because you hope that there's more to Rum than what's been revealed?

(what I'm trying to imply is that theories born out of wishful thinking aren't a great starting point when it comes to this series)

Remember how a few years ago, when Amuro got the message from Rum, and fans almost instantly figured out the Time Is Money meaning? I can recall a bunch of people here who rejected the straightforward solution (Wakita is Rum), and tried to come up with different interpretations. This is sort of what you're trying to do now. Why not just accept it for what it is?

I know that it may seem weird that Gosho would reveal Rum's identity to us while Conan's still in the dark (which is breaking a conventional rule when it comes to detective mysteries), but is it really that weird? This series has been plagued with such instances for almost a decade now. We got a confirmation that Masumi is Shuichi's sister way before Conan, we also seemingly got the same confirmation about Shuukichi. This trend continues with how we know Rumi has Kouji's shogi piece while Conan still has no clue about that stuff. So is it really that strange that we're now ahead of Conan even in regards to Rum's identity?

I mean, Conan even finds out the identity of the BO boss not thanks to his own detective abilities but because daddy told him the answer. I said it a few years ago and I think it's still true — Conan isn't a good detective when it comes to anything plot related. He doesn't actively investigate stuff and he constantly relies on convenient coincidences and clues that are thrown at his face or on people telling him stuff that they heard other people said. So it's actually kind of funny now (in a sad way) that the narrative may have unintentionally developed self-awareness that Conan is just unreliable to find out the truth on his own, so the narrative may as well tell us, the readers, who Rum is.

If you still insist on pursuing this theory, though, then... you think Rum has some really good vocal skills so he can sound like both Daisuke Ono and Shigeru Chiba? Did he also study under Toichi?

[andi2ews]

When we go back in such episodes 901 902 , we have a hint that you may conclude the writer of 2 messages are different when there is difference in manner of writing , such as writing a comma by Eri Kisaki .

Rum sent two messages to Bourbon asking him to investigate Kudo Shinchi ,,, but when you carefully examine the two messages , we conclude the way is written in both is different , so may be the writer of the two messages are different , which means there is another person who may use name of RUM at sometimes .

The first message from Rum to Bourbon was in Chapter 1008 ,,, in that chapter also we knew Karasuma ,,, so I think the first message to Bourbon was from Karasuma / Rum / Chikara Katsumata .

While the second message was in chapter 1011 , in that chapter the girls were dressed as Rabbits , so this might be a hint that Wakita who looks like Rabbits was the one who sent that second message to Bourbon .

Maybe RUM / Chikara who ordered Wakita to do that . it seems Wakita is the organization's spy hunter , Wakita was able to reveal Akai's cover as an FBI agent , so I think also he is the one who exposed Scotch's cover being an NPA agent , and now it's Bourbon's turn because Chikara / RUM doubts him . So Chikara ordered Wakita to watch Mouri Kogoro and also watch Bourbon .

There are few different details that I noticed in the two messages :
1- The sentence " time is money" in the first message written in the middle of speech , while in the second message at the end .
2- Rum signature is very far from speech in first message , meaning there is a big break between it and speech , while in second message , the signature is close to speech .

There may be some other differences , but it seems that Wakita is a very close assistant to Rum as Wakita hinted in his first appearance when he talked about hint of Yaiba , but real RUM/Chikara we know is the one who actually has a left prosthetic eye and a very secret identity .

Another note that may be important , but it hasn't relation with the current chapters :
In chapter 344 , Agasa was talking as a flashback about Sharon's Vineyard fake funeral , there was an old man painted so clearly in that flashback .... Who do we have here , Karasuma Renya ??



Bourbon said at beginning of arc RUM that there is a relationship between Vermouth and the boss , so the relationship i expected between Rum / Karasuma / former boss and Vermouth may be she is his daughter .

if you look closely you'll find that Amuro recives that 2 messages in two different phones. The first one received on a smartphone that has the club logo replacing the apple logo, while the second phone where he received the other's Rum message doesnt have any logo. So Amuro has 2 different phones. The first with the back logo is the BO phones, while the other is his Police phone

[MeiTanteixX]

you think Rum has some really good vocal skills so he can sound like both Daisuke Ono and Shigeru Chiba? Did he also study under Toichi?

The manga story doesn't rely on its anime interpretation.
This is not a case of impersonating someone or using the voice of the opposite gender, where special Toichi skills are required.
It would just be a matter of using a voice/an "old man" impression that sounds as different as possible from your own for your made-up "old man" character.