Akai (SPOILERS)

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

Alright, so basically, you are telling me... by some CRAZY coincidence that Rikumichi's finger prints were on the which ever phone Conan gave to Jodie

I wouldn't call it crazy because it happened. Rikumichi's fingerprints are on one of Conan’s two phones. If what you really mean is that you think it's unreasonable that Akai and Conan could have come up with a plan that early on, I agree. I don't think the plan to fake Akai's death was created at that point in time. Akai, Rena, and Conan probably came up with the plan before the FBI did their fake-escape-with-Rena act. There was a little time to work out the details. It's not unreasonable that Akai, having been in the organization before, would anticipate that Rena would need to do some task to regain the boss's trust. Akai probably guessed the task might be to kill him and decided to prepare appropriately to be safe. Regarding the fingerprints, Conan and Akai took what they had and ran with it. As I mentioned above, they could have forged them later using Rikumichi's body.

...and that his body mysteriously ended up in Shuu's car, which blew up, with no one around, and no one noticing some guy putting a dead body into his car.

Rikumichi's body disappeared. We have no idea what happened to it. The police never say anything about a body matching Rikumichi's description in the Shiranpuri case. That's suspicious, considering they are the homicide division, and they would probably be called to investigate any case involving a gunshot to the head, even if looked like a suicide. It’s hard to tell from the relevant chapter, but in the anime there's no one around when the car went into a ditch. The FBI would probably take the body so they could get the man’s identity and search for clues. So, it’s not impossible for Akai or one of the other FBI chasing after Rikumichi to take Rikumichi’s body and put it in their truck. Another option is that Akai or one of the following FBI agents drove Rikumichi’s vehicle with the body in it to somewhere less conspicuous.

Really... that is all too circumstantial... too perfect. He was shot in the head and blown up in Akai's truck... Sorry, but I don't see it. Also, assuming it was Rikumichi's, and Gosho finds some convoluted explanation on how the body got there, and into a believable position to find a body in a car explosion (think about it, there was no one in the front seat, Akai, if it was fake, would have had to make it believable, by staying down until he was sure Gin was gone, then put Rikumichi's body into the front,

I suspect that Akai falls down in the front seat, but the body is in the back seat. In short, the body has already been prepared beforehand. That's a pretty plausible explanation, but the view of the burning body isn't quite enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt it's in the backseat. I put a relevant clip in the spoiler box below. What convinces me that the body is different is the disappearing blood trail coming from Akai's mouth. There is no way that Gosho is careless enough to make an art mistake in as critical a panel as this one. As someone else discussed earlier, it also makes no sense for Rena to wipe it off herself. See the pictures I posted below.

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJdAuu4BCuc

Spoiler:

all with time to get away from a rather large explosion. Again... I don't care how awesome Akai is... that is just not possible, not enough time to do it. ...Timer was just long enough for Rena to get away...

Camel managed to escape just fine earlier. If the Rikumichi's body was in the backseat as described above, Akai has plenty of time to haul himself over the cliff to safety. If Akai escaped after Rena placed the bomb and walked away all he would have to do is pick up and move the bomb to the backseat where the body was prepared beforehand and haul arse like Camel did.

Also... The gunshot was NOT the same. Suicide is on the side of the head, Akai was shot dead center. Front to back, I'm sure that would rule out "suicide" for the police.

They probably think it is a murder since the Metropolitan Police Division 1 is working on the case. If it is Rikumichi's body, any gunshot powder wounds indicating a suicide-like gunshot would be obliterated by the burning. Also, the weapon wasn't found at the scene of the explosion making it seem even less like a suicide. Add to that the mysterious explosion and to the police murder definitely seems plausible. Only Rena and the Org. know that Akai was shot from the front. Only the FBI, Conan, and possibly Rena if told later know that Rikumichi shot himself through the temple. If the Org. looked into the police report they might discover the discrepancy, but why should they endanger their secrecy sniffing about a police investigation when they saw the deed done before their eyes? Note that the police never mentioned any specifics about the body; they just said there were a lot of mysteries about it. 

There is more evidence against Akai surviving, than for. I want Akai back too, but really... When I think as I would as an investigator... Its hard to think of all those things happening to make Akai survive. Its especially hard to survive a direct shot to the head. I'm sure Gin would have noticed if it went any other way. IF she had shot him on the side of the head, maybe... But nope, it was frontal...

Fake blood packets and blanks. Other people mentioned this possibility earlier. Rena brings a gun which is loaded with blank bullets. Akai prepares packets of blood which can be triggered by a detonator in his pocket. When Rena shoots, Akai detonates one of the blood packets creating a realistic looking gunshot for the camera. This setup already happened before in the Kaito Kid on a boat case (chap 158), so it is not unprecedented.

Spoiler:

Anyway, if you look carefully, Akai keeps his right hand in his pocket during the whole ordeal. That's a bit unnatural especially after having been shot once; it is more natural to have one hand cover the wound while putting the other in front of you to protect you. He couldn't do that however, because he had to push the detonator. The shot to the head was above Akai's hat line which makes it totally possible for a fake blood packet to fit in under there. As for the bleeding from the mouth, Akai could have bit open a small packet he was carrying inside his mouth (it had to be small or else his speech wouldn't be clear) or bit his tongue (ouch).

Here’s a thought: if Akai was really dead, why would Gosho make it suspicious? If Gosho had shown a full face shot of Akai lying down in the seat with the bomb on its final second, that would give the right “he’s dead, Jim” feel to it. It is poor writing to leave the readers lingering without reason and Gosho isn’t a poor writer. It’s also really suspicious that Gosho avoided showing his whole face once he is lying down.

If you look at it in terms of Gosho’s writing style, he hasn’t killed off any characters which have been around for more than one case. Matsuda Jinpei was the closest Gosho has gotten to killing off a protagonist and we knew upfront he was dead. There is always a first for everything, but Gosho has had about 600 chapters to set a precedent before now.

Finally, Akai being alive explains Okiya Subaru nicely as well as Conan’s actions and Ran and Haibara’s reaction to him.

[kyuuketsuki]

Checkov,

I congratulate you, you make a good argument. Though I still feel that its still impossible, but feasibility has never been Gosho's strong suit. You mentioned blanks. Blanks at that range are still lethal. Fact: When blanks are used in movies, actors using them are told to aim them slightly higher, thats why in many movies the recoil is slightly larger than what you would see in reality. They do that so the wad of paper that is released won't hit and injure the person. So at that range, the blank would still kill him (or at least still injure him). Even if he DID survive... there would be a severe burn on his forehead. But if we see him later with that, fine. Read about Blanks and safety here.

Also... you mentioned "Back seat." Maybe you missed "Akai's TRUCK." Not sure if you realize this but, MOST trucks, including Akai's, HAS NO BACK SEAT. Only a flat bed. And I think it would be VERY strange to find a dead body in the flatbed of a truck after explosion. That would just SCREAM murder, and foul play. That would lead to an ongoing investigation, because there is no way that would be a suicide. And really, why would the BO allow that if their forte is evidenceless crimes.

Before I end this... I should mention why I don't think the oil theory would work for faking fingerprints (providing that the Metro police is up on the technology). Most people think police dust for finger prints, but that is no longer the case. They scan for them creating a 3-D image of the print. Because of this they can also determine what oils are present, if there is powder residue (like from firing a gun for suicide), natural or unnatural oils. I doubt Gosho is going to make use of that, its too... new...

But again... Seeing as Gosho isn't always up on feasibility, I CAN see it happening. Still not satisfied as a Forensic Scientist though...

[Sandam]

this is chevy c-1500 it got no backseat i would say the body was in trunk. gin was fas away, it was night and camera was only on kir's neck so they could not see any shot. the first shot was made with gun out of camera range and then she shot the head the camera was also in not that good angle. in anime it was not even facing akai. there was enough time for akai to change body and get away. im sure it was 30 seconds like it was shown in anime. noone could get in the car start engine and get away in less time. 

[Nyarl]

this is chevy c-1500 it got no backseat

ORLY? Why does this C1500 offer a Split folding rear seat and why does this article claim we can order a passenger side rear door for access to the rear seat?

Shuuihci's truck clearly features an extended cab, whatever make or model it is supposed to be. It has storage room behind the front seats whether or not it has a rear seat installed. The question is how awkward it would be to access a body stored there from the front seats for a quick switch. The switch would have been made when everyone was distracted by the police sirens otherwise we're back to there being art errors or Kir cleaning his face.

[kyuuketsuki]

this is chevy c-1500 it got no backseat

ORLY? Why does this C1500 offer a Split folding rear seat and why does this article claim we can order a passenger side rear door for access to the rear seat?

Shuuihci's truck clearly features an extended cab, whatever make or model it is supposed to be. It has storage room behind the front seats whether or not it has a rear seat installed. The question is how awkward it would be to access a body stored there from the front seats for a quick switch. The switch would have been made when everyone was distracted by the police sirens otherwise we're back to there being art errors or Kir cleaning his face.

Dude... you do realize how many models are in the c-1500 line, right? You happened to chose one WITH a back seat. That is a SMALL percentage of them. So I ask you... out of the some 20 models of them, are you SURE that Akai drives one of the few that have that feature? From the looks of it, he doesn't. Don't pull up random pages, thinking you'll make a valid argument, because any lawyer would tell you that evidence wouldn't hold up in court. Having an extended cab /= back seat. The original argument was the body was in the back seat. Think from an investigative point of view. How many questions would it raise if there was a body in the behind the seat storage? That would make it look like someone was trying to hide the body, and he was dead for some time, and was a cover-up, meaning MORE investigation. Hell, even if it was a back seat, to move the seat would be considered too much trouble, still raise questions (unless there was evidence of a gun to the windows, and the body was found in such a position).  If that were the case, once Gin got word of that... She'd be dead. He would HAVE to be in the front to avoid any serious suspicion, or on the bed, but then the investigation would still change, because that would raise again different questions.

The evidence you just presented is "circumstantial," and cannot be considered valid, unless Akai's model can be confirmed to be a model with a backseat.

As for the time, we are never shown it except for 3 seconds remaining, but we can assume there was less than a minute on the timer. Gin drove away within seconds of the explosion, we don't know if he was still watching or anything.

Again, its possible, but highly implausible, and requires far too much coincidence for my taste. Chances are Akai IS still alive, because Gosho will probably have him involved with the final episodes. But I will probably not accept it unless there were 5 minutes on the timer (time enough to move the body [dead weight] and get away clean) (previous parenthesis in assumption that Kir was not aiding him, if she was 2 minutes would be fine), they explain the close shot, because again, blanks could still kill at point blank range to the head, and they explain the finger prints (relatively easy if they don't use modern techniques).

[Sandam]

ok.. sorry i really made a mistake >.< akai's chevy got backseat. at least in anime.. it looked so tiny so it was hard to believe. sorry again. for some reason i was sure its 2-seater. 

As for the time, we are never shown it except for 3 seconds remaining, but we can assume there was less than a minute on the timer. Gin drove away within seconds of the explosion, we don't know if he was still watching or anything.

why do u think that gin drove away within seconds? last picture of gins car was just before he said to kir to run away after cleaning up. in anime at that time he drove away. just before kir started timer. i dont believe gin could have seen anything after kir turned away after putting bomb in the car.

about time, 3 seconds were showed after kir was in the car and already started driving away. so how much time u would need to go across the street, get in the car, start engine... plus because its manga we dont know how much time was between those 2 pictures. normally u dont want to be close to explosion then police is around. so its probably 30 seconds as it was shown in anime.

[rushx5]

In the anime they showed more than three seconds, thirty I believe it was.

[Chekhov MacGuffin]

I congratulate you, you make a good argument. Though I still feel that its still impossible, but feasibility has never been Gosho's strong suit. You mentioned blanks. Blanks at that range are still lethal. Fact: When blanks are used in movies, actors using them are told to aim them slightly higher, thats why in many movies the recoil is slightly larger than what you would see in reality. They do that so the wad of paper that is released won't hit and injure the person. So at that range, the blank would still kill him (or at least still injure him). Even if he DID survive... there would be a severe burn on his forehead. But if we see him later with that, fine. Read about Blanks and safety here.

Also... you mentioned "Back seat." Maybe you missed "Akai's TRUCK." Not sure if you realize this but, MOST trucks, including Akai's, HAS NO BACK SEAT. Only a flat bed. And I think it would be VERY strange to find a dead body in the flatbed of a truck after explosion.
That would just SCREAM murder, and foul play. That would lead to an ongoing investigation, because there is no way that would be a suicide. And really, why would the BO allow that if their forte is evidenceless crimes.

Before I end this... I should mention why I don't think the oil theory would work for faking fingerprints (providing that the Metro police is up on the technology). Most people think police dust for finger prints, but that is no longer the case. They scan for them creating a 3-D image of the print. Because of this they can also determine what oils are present, if there is powder residue (like from firing a gun for suicide), natural or unnatural oils. I doubt Gosho is going to make use of that, its too... new...

But again... Seeing as Gosho isn't always up on feasibility, I CAN see it happening. Still not satisfied as a Forensic Scientist though...

I'm glad you think I put up a good argument! You are right about the blanks and the fingerprints. I know that modern forensics would definitely catch faked fingerprints (using IR spectroscopy most likely), but I gave the suggestion to fake them using oil (I was thinking some sort of patented FBI eau de skin oil rather than say, crisco) because I don't think Gosho is writing with that level of realistic forensics in mind. (except when it is needed as a plot device) The same goes with the blanks. I don't think Gosho is going to nitpick over the reality of the dangers of blanks, especially when their drawbacks are often ignored in drama. Detective Conan is full of implausibilities and ideas which look fine on paper but would probably not go so smoothly in reality. Trying to approach it from an overly realistic point of view will prematurely eliminate possibilities which are fine literarily but not literally.

As for the truck, other people have already talked about it above. I merely noticed it has back side windows and I assumed that there was a backseat. Now that I am looking at pictures of C-1500s, the extended cab versions of the C-1500 have those back side windows while the normal ones don't seem to have them according to Google images. It's not unreasonable to guess that Akai has an extended cab.

Why would the Crow Corps need to make Akai's death look like a suicide? With Gin's approval, Akai was shot in the lung and the forehead and then his truck was detonated with plastic explosives. The cops are going to find plastic explosive residue, and they will notice the body has been shot twice in the aforementioned locations even if it was burnt. The police are going to to assume a murder, not a suicide. That doesn't matter to the Org. though. The Org. knows that it is unlikely the police have any data on Akai Shuuichi, so Akai's burnt body will likely go unidentified with no clues as to who murdered him or why. The FBI aren't going to tell the police. The investigation will dead end, just like the B.O. wants.

[Nyarl]

{...}You are right about the blanks and the fingerprints. I know that modern forensics would definitely catch faked fingerprints (using IR spectroscopy most likely), but I gave the suggestion to fake them using oil (I was thinking some sort of patented FBI eau de skin oil rather than say, crisco) because I don't think Gosho is writing with that level of realistic forensics in mind. (except when it is needed as a plot device) The same goes with the blanks. I don't think Gosho is going to nitpick over the reality of the dangers of blanks, especially when their drawbacks are often ignored in drama. Detective Conan is full of implausibilities and ideas which look fine on paper but would probably not go so smoothly in reality. Trying to approach it from an overly realistic point of view will prematurely eliminate possibilities which are fine literarily but not literally.
{...}

For the fingerprints, they weren't trying to identify a perpetrator, they were merely matching prints to a body, prints that weren't even from the crime scene. Why would they even care what the print was composed of and why wouldn't Akai's sweat work well enough? I'm not even sure Takagi would tell Jodie about unidentified prints on the phone if it were the same one Conan used to bait the spy suspects or that her story about how the prints got on the phone was fishy that early in the investigation.

Looks like you have a point about the blanks, though there's some discontinuity between when Kir is shown with the gun to Akai's head and when she pulls the trigger. First, she's standing over him, then he's standing over her. This leaves room for the idea she didn't actually have the gun pressed directly against his head when she pulled the trigger (which does look to be an very bad thing from even superficial research). Of course, it's likely as you write,

Spoiler:

though don't assume Aoyama wouldn't consider the possibility of severe burns, whether from the gun discharge or the truck explosion... Righty!Akai apparently has burn scarring.

[kyuuketsuki]

{...}You are right about the blanks and the fingerprints. I know that modern forensics would definitely catch faked fingerprints (using IR spectroscopy most likely), but I gave the suggestion to fake them using oil (I was thinking some sort of patented FBI eau de skin oil rather than say, crisco) because I don't think Gosho is writing with that level of realistic forensics in mind. (except when it is needed as a plot device) The same goes with the blanks. I don't think Gosho is going to nitpick over the reality of the dangers of blanks, especially when their drawbacks are often ignored in drama. Detective Conan is full of implausibilities and ideas which look fine on paper but would probably not go so smoothly in reality. Trying to approach it from an overly realistic point of view will prematurely eliminate possibilities which are fine literarily but not literally.
{...}

For the fingerprints, they weren't trying to identify a perpetrator, they were merely matching prints to a body, prints that weren't even from the crime scene. Why would they even care what the print was composed of and why wouldn't Akai's sweat work well enough? I'm not even sure Takagi would tell Jodie about unidentified prints on the phone if it were the same one Conan used to bait the spy suspects or that her story about how the prints got on the phone was fishy that early in the investigation.

Looks like you have a point about the blanks, though there's some discontinuity between when Kir is shown with the gun to Akai's head and when she pulls the trigger. First, she's standing over him, then he's standing over her. This leaves room for the idea she didn't actually have the gun pressed directly against his head when she pulled the trigger (which does look to be an very bad thing from even superficial research). Of course, it's likely as you write,

Spoiler:

though don't assume Aoyama wouldn't consider the possibility of severe burns, whether from the gun discharge or the truck explosion... Righty!Akai apparently has burn scarring.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. The person at the bank WAS NOT AKAI. Akai would want to save Conan, but why would he shoot with his WEAKER HAND? It's risky enough shooting at a suspect with a hostage, not to mention with your weak hand. Hell its so dangerous, that most, if not all, police forces in America, and probably japan (if movie 2 has ANY accuracy at all) made it a rule not to fire on a suspect with a hostage as a human shield. That leads to a minimum of suspension, and in severe cases, expulsion from the police. Akai, surely would use his dominant hand (AKA his left), to free conan of his captor. Which is why I personally think it was Vermouth dressed as Akai messing with Jodie (the only person with the skills to do it, and the motive to save conan).

Also... even if there WAS discontinuity for US, there wasn't for Gin, and I'm sure he would call Kir out if ANYTHING seemed amiss.

Chekov, thats exactly why I said I wouldn't be surprised if he was still alive and became involved before or at least before the endgame. Still wouldn't be satisfied as a FS though. Its just me though... BTW if not IR spectroscopy, it would another type of spectroscopy or mass spectrometry.

Also, about the truck, all I said was that no one knows which year his truck is. Not all models with an extended cab have a back seat, and to make it a valid argument, one would need to present evidence of the year of the truck, which is of course impossible to do, so I won't hold that against you, and say that I was well aware of some of the trucks having a seat, but some also have only storage.

And the BO WOULD need to make it look like suicide. Because a US Federal Agent was killed in a foreign nation. Whether or not it was official business or not, whether he was on vacation or not, doesn't matter. I'm more than certain that if it was not deemed suicide, and it was deemed to be Akai's body, the US Gov't if it was murder would request an investigative force of their own on the case, and would not allow it to be closed in fear of foul play. Therefore, even if MPD and the Japanese gov't finished, the US Gov't could still persue the investigation until a clear conclusion was reached. "Concerning arrests on foreign soil, FBI Special Agents generally do not have authority outside the United States except in certain cases where, with the consent of the host country, Congress has granted the FBI extraterritorial jurisdiction." - courtesy of the FBI FAQ.

Also from the FBI FAQ "How is the FBI fighting organized crime, particularly international organized crime?
The FBI uses a variety of laws, asset forfeiture statutes, and sophisticated investigative techniques in its domestic and international cases. The criminal and civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute are a particularly suited to dismantle criminal organizations. These investigations frequently utilize undercover operations, court-authorized electronic surveillance, informants and cooperating witnesses, and consensual monitoring. Many of these are conducted with foreign and domestic police agencies. The FBI operates under an organized crime/drug strategy that focuses its investigations on major international, national, and regional groups that control large segments of the illegal activities."

In other words, if a federal agent who was involved in an investigation with international crime syndicate (say the BO), even if the agent was not active or on vacation as Akai was reported to be, the US could make the argument that the BO faction in Japan was directly responsible for the agents death, and use that for reason to open an official joint case with the MPD on the BO.

[Rio Nagava]

I remeber posting something like that... But i guess stupid comments killed it T_T
So here is what i think... You should've noticed some inconsistency in picture... And my guess it's weird. It could be two things - Either drawing mistake, or conspiracy XD
1.Take a look at gun - we see casing. But when Kir shot Akai - no casing seen... Probably missed it cuz of flash but still.
2.Akai grabbed his chest, but moments later both his hands in pockets. Not to mention that blood coming from his mouth.
3.He fells on the seat. And we can see blood all over his head - on the seat i mean. And look - his eyes closed... I know his death probably was instant... But i thought that after death, eyes stay open...
4.Now look at that, Kir placing the bomb in the car. She leans too much inside, and we see that not only head of Akai is turned, but that there is no blood from his mouth.And what's even more scary... I know some expression that after death all people look peacful. But look at poor Akai! His face looks horrible... Wait a minute - did he had such terrible cheeks? They look kinda familiar... Just like Kusuda's... Probably just me.
5.Door of his car is closed when Kir leaves. But did she moved him? Or did he just fall so nicely that she simply closed the door? And yeah... Look he simply fit in on the seat, even tho he is tall and heavy. Not too mention that blood pool didn't changed that much, should he be moved it would be probably messed up more...
6.And there we came here to last thing - news report. You can see weird seat there. Looks burned, and it seems that something probably is there. Although part of the seat is normal as if fire and explosion didn't destroyed it.

[kyuuketsuki]

Alright... I need to take my mind off studying... So I shall basically put my two trains of thought down: the forensic scientist side, and the conan side (well i really don't have one, but I'll be using the constructs of conan)

First off, I am writing this with the assumption that the Anime is BS, and the only true facts come from the manga.

Now lets look at the Conan side (this will likely prove Akai's survival) Note: a lot of this will be summary from previous posts)

1) Discontinuity
    - The blood on the face/mouth
    - truck door closed
2) Time on the timer is only shown at 3 seconds, which was placed right next to whom we can assume to be Akai's head. As if I recall we see Akai's face in its entirety as Kir places the bomb next to him.
3) Two phones,  many different fingerprints (Jodie, Conan, Akai, Rikumichi, Suspects)
    - We are not sure what phone was given, or what fingerprints were present
4) (someone mentioned hand on chest --> hand in pocket) I'm just stating this as it was previously presented as "evidence" (poor evidence but evidence all the same) Akai's left hand is on his chest after he gets shot. Next frame hand is no longer on his side and right hand is in pocket.
    -Things to take note of: Akai is left handed, it is not strange for someone to only grasp an injury with their dominant hand. Akai's right hand never left his pocket, blood packet detonator switch? or simply old habit? (he did seem to like having his hands in his pockets)
5) Extended cab in Akai's truck
    -Back seat or storage for Rikumichi's body allowing for quick move and speedy escape out the other door?


Conclusions to be drawn:
Point 1: Either Gosho screwed up (shit happens when you are tired, and I'm sure an editor wouldn't question him >_>) or He is trying to tell us something.
Point 2: Time cannot be sensed in manga. So there are few possibilities: 1) We never initially see the time when the detonator is placed so Kir might have faked setting the timer, made the body switch with Akai, set the timer for the explosion. 2) The timer gave enough time to make a switch. 3) the timer was really only 3 seconds when it was next to what is possibly Akai's head (poor Akai)
Point 3: Assuming fingerprints cannot be faked. It could either confirm Akai's death or survival, providing that they didn't use modern fingerprint analysis techniques (explained later)
Point 4: Akai is lefty, I pretty much explained its relevance to the death scene above. But when Akai "returns" he uses his right. I don't care if you have amnesia or not, you are not going to switch hands out of nowhere, in fact, if you have amnesia, I'm fairly certain you will instinctively use your dominant hand anyway. UNLESS Akai was one of those people who learned to use the other hand to be ambidextrous, and his left is really his weak hand to make things more interesting, and his right is really his dominant (highly highly highly unlikely and defiantly implausible) Likely that person was not Akai.
5) Importance is stated above.

The realistic forensic scientist side:
1) Fingerprint analysis
    - Able to match trace elements on the body and match them with the fingerprints
2) Coroner's report
    - Akai supposedly had 2 shots, Riku had only 1. If that is ever released to us in some fashion, it will likely reveal to us who's body it was
3) The argument of blanks
    - Even if blanks are used, at that range, it is still lethal. (Brandon Lee was killed due to a blank setting off some shrapnel (supposedly a piece or whole bullet head) lodged in the tip of the gun, and that was long range) At close range, at 1000 m/s, even a wad of paper would be lethal (most blanks have paper in them known ironically as a "wad")
4) No fingerprint records? well what about dental. Assuming niether Riku or Akai had fingerprints on file, they would have to resort to dental molds. If he is positively ID'ed it must be Riku, if not sorry Akai, but you dead (as his dental molds would likely be in the US). I'm sure the police would make the effort to positively ID the body.
5) Since everyone seems to love to mention Reichenbach Falls, I'd like to mention the fact that, though Holmes did survive, he was never intended to. Also Akai /= Holmes, and Kir certainly /= Moriarty. If anything I'd go with that if it were Shinichi vs Gin (or even better the boss of the BO, and both died, and Shinichi somehow survived)
6) Looks like a murder
    - BO would try to make it as much like a suicide as possible, or a murder leading somewhere else. Might be a mistake on their part, but as I said before. Dead Akai = dead federal agent. Dead federal agent means official sanctioned FBI investigation joint with the MPD. Possibly leading into the BO.
7) Looking at the picture of Akai grabbing his chest/shirt, there was no bullet proof vest. Which means even if they were blanks he might have survived that first shot, but would have been injured (maybe explaining the blood in the mouth?)

Conclusions: Put simply... Inconclusive. The only thing that puts Akai in the grave is the shot. And that is the only thing we have absolute proof of. (Though its some proof that doesn't bode well for Akai.)

In totality, unless we are presented with more postmortem evidence, we cannot truly say yet. There is an equal chance on each side, but far too many variables. If we take everything at face value, there is no doubt that Akai is dead. But if the variables are within the constraints I have given, and we really weren't shown everything (as is full well possible) then Akai may very well be alive, but he has not returned yet, due to the fact that that person was a righty, and not a lefty. I would go through the points again, but I'm really not in the mood to spend an hr on this.

[Sandam]

Akai supposedly had 2 shots, Riku had only 1. If that is ever released to us in some fashion, it will likely reveal to us who's body it was

do u think akai wouldnt "add" some more holes if he needs? i guess he would.

3) The argument of blanks
    - Even if blanks are used, at that range, it is still lethal. (Brandon Lee was killed due to a blank setting off some shrapnel (supposedly a piece or whole bullet head) lodged in the tip of the gun, and that was long range) At close range, at 1000 m/s, even a wad of paper would be lethal (most blanks have paper in them known ironically as a "wad")

i believe you, gin gave that gun himself. i dont think there was time to get some blanks. but i dont think there is need for blanks. for the first shot it is impossible to see the gun because it was not in camera angle, so she could just shoot beside him. second shot in manga looks like inside of camera angle, but in anime its impossible to capture with camera. so i believe kir was shooting beside akai.

4) No fingerprint records? well what about dental. Assuming niether Riku or Akai had fingerprints on file, they would have to resort to dental molds. If he is positively ID'ed it must be Riku, if not sorry Akai, but you dead (as his dental molds would likely be in the US). I'm sure the police would make the effort to positively ID the body.

i dont think there was much left from a head since the bomb was right beside it..... and i think that was planed by both BO and akai. since none of them want police knowing the identify of that body. but still its possible either way..

5) Extended cab in Akai's truck
    -Back seat or storage for Rikumichi's body allowing for quick move and speedy escape out the other door?

now wait... what other door? only 2 doors in akais car, one of them is blocked by guardrail (or whatever it is in english)


its impossible to find the truth without more evidence... its 50:50

[kyuuketsuki]

Sandam....

1) That is providing Akai knew what was coming, or if he had time (which he didn't, police were right there) Also.... Even if he did add the extra bullet hole, its easy to tell what holes caused death and what were done postmortem, or even before he died. Coroners are paid good money to be able to determine that, as cause of death is quite important.

2) The gun was put up to his head while Gin was watching. You don't thing Gin would notice something so elementary as the gun being next to his head?

3) Do you even realize how strong human bones are? It takes a hell of a blast to destroy bones. This is why dental records are the preferred method for explosion and burn victims. Besides think of it this way... If the finger prints survived... how would bone, which is considerably stronger than flesh, not survive. (the bomb would have to be inside his head to destroy dental records.

4) OH! So 2 door sports cars have no back seat too, right? So where do I sit in my cousin's porche 911? I could have sworn it was a back seat. Oh well I must have been hallucinating... (You really need to think before you type, and read up, about 2 people linked to proof of the possibility of the existence of a back seat in the extended cab)

[ShinRan36]

As I said before, he isnt dead, he is Okiya !