Iron Tanuki: 674

[prince.ngoc]

Here is my crazy theory:
- The initial message was sent out by Jirochi (the rich uncle) to lure the real Kid in opening the safe. At the same time, Jirochi has a partner who DISGUISE AS JIROCHI, and is hiding in the safe. They swap role every night after dinner (one goes back to the safe, the other goes out and be Jirochi. The talking that the guard hears is for them to update the situation amongst themselves.
- The partner does not have to know how to open the safe from outside: with some signal, Jirochi can open from the inside. The cane is used as signal for the inside person to open the door.
- Hence, Jirochi sent out the message to lure the real Kid into opening the safe. It is a win-win situation for him. If Kid does not turn up, then he wins. If Kid turns up and does manage to open the safe: then the guy inside can catch Kid. The guy inside is probably inspector Chiaki mentioned several times in the story.
- To make sure that Kid will get interested in the safe, Jirochi provided opportunities for Kid by hiring new staff. Without providing this opportunity, Kid could have declined the offer.

- So, Kid, disguised as the maid, turned up, and slipped the paper in the room. On that day, however, the REAL Jirochi was inside the safe, and the fake one was outside. (They would swap position after checking the safe). Therefore the FAKE Jirochi (Jirochi's partner) did not want inspector Nakamori to check the face of the staff, because he himself was in disguise.
- By creating the scene with Kogoro dropping the coins, Kid could confirm that it's the fake Jirochi (because he's right-handed, whereas the real one is left-handed). Hence Kid (the maid) pretended that Jirochi asked for her. Because the FAKE Jirochi thought that this was the real Jirochi's request, the Fake Jirochi allowed the maid to come to the room with him. There, Kid (the maid) drugged the guy, came out as Jirochi with the cane, going to check the safe. He also got the remote control of the security sensor, and prepared a fake one to hand for the REAL JIROCHI.

- Now, Kid The Jirochi stuck the cane inside as signal. Real Jirochi opened the safe, and they swap place. By the time the file finishes, Kid is INSIDE the safe with the controller for the security system, while the Jirochi outside is real, and thinking that he got the upperhand of Kid, is happy to leave. Kid probably said something to the real Jirochi so that he will be in a certain place.

PREDICTION: Kid would turn off the security system by his remote control, open the safe to get out. Then he turned on the security thing while standing in the room, and started making noise -- so that everyone knows that Kid has appeared! As people poured in the room, Kid disguise as one of them. Due to the weight difference, the cage will start going down, causing everyone (the guards) to panic and runs back out -- and hence Kid gets away, with the safe opened.

MAN!! I can't wait to see how the last file turns out!!

[prince.ngoc]

Heheh.. closed. I just read the volume in Japanese. Didn't know it was out already.

[7kids]

sorry to interrupt you guys !

but , like in vol 30 . kid disguise as kogoro . and that "kogoro" wasn't smoking ..

and in this iron tanuki . i don't see that nakamori smoking . is it just me or .. ??

[sstimson]

Jst for your info he raw and a raw translation are out. Those answered a few questions. And any more said would be spoiler ville.

Later (waiting for it to be out to learn how they came up with their deductions )

[sstimson]

Now that the file is out, Please explain how you guess / deduced the following:

1) The dog in the safe.

2) The dog holding the 'key' to the safe

3) the what oder was KID Jirochi  if ever.

Waiting for learning clues to those questions.

Later

[Kristantei]

Now that the file is out, Please explain how you guess / deduced the following:

1) The dog in the safe.

2) The dog holding the 'key' to the safe

3) the what oder was KID Jirochi  if ever.

Waiting for learning clues to those questions.

Later

I have already posted my deduction on this matter, but I could do a post op on the details if you'd like. It's usually just more impressive when my postings are made before the solution is given.
**SPOILER**
I know this could be considered a spoiler, but since the solution chapter has been posted for a while. It's your own fault to read ahead. It's just annoying to hide all this in a spoiler window.
1) We know that Lupin was trapped in the safe partly, because he was the one person who is normally with Jirokichi wasn't there, Lupin. Now, it was very possible that Lupin was really sick, but it was still suspicious.
Another clue was that oddly obvious fake first Kid notice that was published for the paper, the one written in the old style writing. What always bothered me about that letter is that Kid has always posted his notices horizontally and the little sketch has always been basically the same. I thought that is this was a fake. Why be so obvious about it? There had to be a reason. (Sadly, my Japanese skills weren't strong enough to spot that hidden message myself. I'm working on that though.) It was also odd that this first notice only mentioned the Iron Tanuki and not some gem inside of it. Kid only targets gems.
That reason was a code. Jirokichi couldn't just come right out and ask Kid for help. He had to be careful. Now, if we think about it carefully it would make sense. What would be so precious to Jirokichi that he would be so bold as to ask Kid for his help. I can't think of anything, but his beloved dog, Lupin.
Most of the clues point to Lupin being inside the safe. There are always two plates going missing. A dog needs both food and water. Also when Jirokichi would be inside, alone, he would seemingly talk with someone.

2) It's obvious that Lupin had the key to the safe with him. Why else would Jirokichi even need Kid to open it for him? If Jirokichi could remember it himself he would of released him already. He couldn't do if from memory so he had to enlist the help of a famous thief to break a famous safe. The safe maker was famous for making booby traps so it was too dangerous to just try it randomly.
Remember that Lupin did have a a pouch always hanging around his neck. Haven't you ever wondered what was in that?

3) Kid was never disguised as Jirokichi in this case. Before he left Jirokichi purposely tossed his keys with his left hand to give the impression to the police that he was really Kid in disguise. Conan figured this case out and helped everyone along. They all had to get everyone out of the mansion or away from the safe to give Kid the time he needed to open the safe and save Lupin. Most likely the servant that was put asleep and disguised as Jirokichi, surrounded by traps, was intended to draw away any police that stayed behind.