Crackpot Rum Theory

[Smitty]

Question - in the original RAW in the Scarlet Showdown and early RUM cases, does Gosho use the alphabetical Romanization of RUM as opposed to Japanese symbols?
I remember this was a point brought up back then a few times.
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Introduction

The solution to the Rum-arc isn't "one guy", but rather how all these people fit together. The problem with the Bourbon arc was, Okiya was fairly quick to figure out was Akai, and by the Red Shirts case, we knew Scar Akai wasn't actually Akai, but Bourbon or a key character for the arc working with the BO.

The main arcs presented these main questions/mysteries:
Vermouth arc had questions like "Why/how can Chris Vineyard be Vermouth?", "Who is Jodie", "Who is Araide", "Who is Akai" and what are their allegiances and motivations. Most of those questions got solved during the Halloween Case. This arc had us guessing on multiple recurring characters backgrounds and allegiances. By the end of the arc, we know where Vermouth, James Black, Akai, Chris Vineyard, Sharon Vineyard, Jodie, and Araide fit into the arc. This arc had us guessing on multiple characters and their motivations. Secondary questions involved Itakura and Akai's suspicion of Haibara being Sherry.

The Kir arc presented us with, "Will the BO find Kir?" "Who is Eisuke, and what is his motivation" "How did Hondou fit into this" and on a lessser note, "What is the company", and "how can Kir and Mizunashi Rena be siblings" By the end of the arc, we know why Eisuke did what he did, we know Kir and Hidemi Hondou are the same person, and that both siblings are Ethan's children. There were only two characters "alive" and involved with Ethan already being dead. This arc was short, but there wasn't too much to figure out. This was mostly case-by-case drive, The status quo is shaken up by having Gin order Kir to kill Akai. Too bad that didn't work.

The mystery of the Bourbon arc was:
Who is Bourbon? (Sera, Okiya, and Amuro) However, evidence mounted to Okiya being Akai before Scar Akai's apperance, and more evidence piled onwards afterwards.
After Sera's introduction, the questions became:
- Who is Sera, and what is her significance? It was quickly obvious she was Akai's sister. Mary came into play after the Mystery Train case, and it changed things up. Half of Sera's motivations between her first 100 chapters have yet to be explained, but after Mystery Train, we know she is Akai's sister and BO knows he has a sister.
- Why did Bourbon hate Akai?
- Why did Scar Akai walk in front of Jodie and Andre Camel? The reader had enough evidence to figure that out even before Bourbon walked in front of Sera as Scar Akai.

One of Bourbon's missions was literally handed to the reader and Conan during the arc's opening case from Jodie.
Amuro was introduced right before the Detective Nocturne case. Not much for hyping Bourbon as by the time Amuro appeared, we had a plethora of evidence that Okiya was Akai, and Sera was Akai's sister. The second half of Bourbon's arc was a single question: "Will Bourbon find Okiya(Akai)?". He did, but Conan outsmarted him.

The Bourbon arc was pretty slow, and the mysteries (likewise solutions) to the arc were pretty underwhelming. The arc's tempo was bizarre and likely there were a lot of editorial reworks while the arc was in progress. It wasn't until Sera's appearance that the speed picked up again and the status quo got shaken up by having Akai's sister hanging around Conan, and a BO agent working under Kogoro. The Rum arc is different by having multiple suspects, and the motivations are not handed to the reader like the Kir or Bourbon arc. The Rum arc opens similar to the Bourbon arc with having Kir sending a message. Luckily Conan nor the reader know anything about him. Only facts we know:

- Codename Rum
- Rum is below the Boss, and higher than Gin
- Has three distinct appearances, but all share a common element, a fake eye or are blind in one eye.

This is similar to the Vermouth arc where not much is known to the reader in the early parts of the arc.
Let's go!
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Main Theory
Wakita, Kuroda and Rumi are not Rum. And at best one or more of them, are agents or people working on behalf of Rum. It could be possible that code names are transferrable, but we have yet to see that happen, so we cannot consider that. The one uploading files of the Kohji case is in fact Rumi to track down Asaka.

Kohji was killed by a APTX-variation.
Amanda was killed by an alternative means.
The suspect is Asaka for both murders, but both murders were actually two different people. Kohji was killed by a BO Agent, likely a Rum-representative after he discovered Amanda's dead body. I suspect Rumi. Amanda was killed by another BO operative sent by Rum or Rum himself. Asaka is alive.

Rum's screw up is Kohji and Amanda were killed, but the rooms were left in a mess, a key witness is missing, and there was a Cipher left behind. This happened because Rum himself did not kill Kohji or Amanda, but delegated the task to others who screwed up, thus by classified as "Rum's mistake".

Kuroda
Kuroda is who he says he is, and is investigating the Kohji case from within the police force, and is curious of Conan and his relation with Kogoro. Kuroda is aware of Rumi and knows it's a fake name, and suspects she has a connection with the Kohji case. Kuroda does not suspect Rumi of being "like" a certain person, either true Rum, or the suspected killer(s) of the Kohji case. Kuroda was present during the Kohji case, or its aftermath as he imagines the body, but did not see the suspected killer(s) in the act and likely did not see their faces directly. Kuroda is Asaka but ran away when Haneda Kohji disrupted the murder of Amanda in some form thus beginning the 'screw up'. Rumi chased Kohji allowing Asaka to escape. Asaka decided to run away after.

He got involved in a BO Accident, lost his eye, had a coma, then was awakened with no memories of being Asaka. He only remembers the murder of Haneda Kohji and that is his motivation to get his memories back. Since Asaka was a suspected murderer he could not normally get into the police force, however, Asaka was a fake name regardless and nobody knew what he looked like, that allowed him to enter the police force.

*tin foil hat theory*
It is possible the BO placed him in the police force after he was 'awakened' from his coma by Rum, but that's fan fiction level territory.
*tin foil hat theory end*

Rumi
Rumi has a Shogi piece, and is likely faking her blindness. Rumi's scars are likely from being the one who killed Kohji as there was a struggle in the room, as it seems likely Kohji struggled and fought back, thus Rumi being present during the Kohji case. She's testing Conan's intelligence as noted by the Camping Case when she presented the solution. She has access to the APTX list as she was the one who administered the APTX-variation to Kohji. Rumi was present during and was supposed to kill Kuroda and was surprised to see him at the campsite, as she was supposed to kill him, and was not able to and is now in a situation where she cannot kill him. She is a Rum confidant who is aware of Kuroda's investigation. I also suspect Rumi is literally bat shit insane as she allowed a murder to happen and encouraged Ayumi to be stabbed. Rumi is working on behalf of Rum, and is tracking down Asaka.

Wakita
Wakita is working on behalf of Rum, or acting as him/has acted as him. If by chance he is not working with Rum in any capacity, his significance is that he was hired by Gin to investigate Kogoro. Right now, Conan does not realize Gin suspects Kogoro again, so this will allow Conan to figure out there's a BO agent lurking close to Kogoro. I don't like to think the boss' right hand man is actually buck toothed. That being said I believe Wakita is hired by Gin more so than Rum. Even if he was hired by Rum, his mission is to investigate Kogoro. Wakita is aware of Rumi's actions and is allowing it to play out by itself. He will likely be the one to report Shinichi Kudo is alive to the BO if they don't find out themselves.

Rum
If Rum is in fact a female thus by changing the status quo regarding codenames, I'm guessing Yonehara as Rum. Her case introduction involved Eyes. Which is a common theme this arc. If Rum is male, I still am guessing Yonehara to be a BO character.

If Rum is a male and it is not changed up, Chikara Katsumata is the real Rum, and Wakita was hired by Gin to investigate Kogoro.

All 3 are aware of Kudo Shinichi.
Rumi has APTX Victim List with Sherry's "DEAD" Flag, as she is a BO Confidant who killed Kohji.

Although I do not suspect the 3 main suspects to be Rum, the likeliness of being Kuroda and Rumi being hired by Rum or acting on behalf of Rum is much higher as they both have seen Haibara but not have acted on this intel. If they were hired by Rum, or acting on behalf of Rum, we can guess that they do not have codenames, and likely have not met or seen Sherry. Sherry is also considered dead right now, and there has not been any motivation to investigate Sherry. At the start of the Bourbon arc, Jodie guessed that Bourbon's mission was to track down Sherry, which propagated the events of the Mystery Train case. After that, we have yet to have any BO investigate Sherry's whereabouts again. Bourbon eavesdropped on Conan's phone call after the Kogoro Bar case, but he only heard one side of the conversation, and what he heard was not evidence for Bourbon think Sherry is alive.

I'm not even going to assume or try to guess that any of the above are Law Enforcement NOCs/undercovers in the BO. If any of them are, the BO is pretty well compromised at this point. It's almost a meme now. I'm hoping we get some dark cases about BO soon. I have an alternative theory regarding the events of Kohji's death and I will post it tomorrow.