)There has been something bugging me about Conan's cell phone after the Mizunashi Rena incident and during the case involving Andre Camel [File 602-609]... and I am finally able to point it out
If you read the timeline at the bottom first, the following becomes clear:
Jodie at some point borrows one of Conan's phones because she says hers has been broken since the same morning (this happens the last day Jodie sees Akai). After Jodie learns Akai might have died, she gives Conan's cell phone to Takagi because she remembered at one point Akai had grabbed Conan's cell phone from him in the incident with Mizunashi Rena earlier, and asks the police to confirm the fingerprints.
There are four unusual points that are in the details:
(1) Jodie claims her phone has been broken since the morning even though Conan called her over in it just minutes before [606]. And she again emphasizes when leaving the hotel with Camel when her phone is broken later on when she tries to call Akai on Conan's phone.
(2) Jodie gives Conan's cell phone to Takagi to check for fingerprints [609], even knowing that Conan has two phones, she either assumes or knows this is the phone Akai touched earlier
(3) Akai stops James Black from calling Jodie about his dangerous meeting with Mizunashi Rena (this happens supposedly around when Jodie is with Conan and her phone is broken) (this seems like he does not want Jodie to get in danger but there maybe another reason)
(4) Conan notices he got back from Jodie a different cell phone than the one he lent her and says nothing.
(5) When Conan lends Jodie his phone, he says that he already has deleted all of his messages (so either he is being very cautious with his phone, or he had this prepared beforehand)
Anyway, the first part of the trick concerning which dead body they used as a double is speculation but it fits well to me.
So here is how the trick goes... Remember the guy who infiltrates the hospital to find Mizunashi Rena (who later shoots himself in the head [598]), he is the double Akai uses to fake his death.
Anyway, Conan found the guy in the hospital by having him use/examine Conan's cellphone (so his fingerprints are on Conan's phone). Akai uses his body as the double when faking his death (remember he also gets shot in the head (as well in the body so I guess he would also have to shoot the double in the chest)). Rena switches the bullets in the gun with blanks, Akai uses squibs to fake the blood and the shots, and Rena covers up the face of the double by setting off an explosion in the car which not only prevents the coroner from estimating the time of death, but from identifying the face of the corpse, so the Police have to rely on fingerprints. Akai shoots the double in the chest well before hand, so that when an examination is done the person is confirmed dead from gunshots to the head and chest, which lets the BO know he is dead, and furthermore from the fingerprint ID the FBI confirms with Takagi later on the FBI can say Akai is dead, and so then the BO knows for sure Akai is dead.
To make this double seem like Akai, Conan plays a trick with the two phones he has (since most people probably don't know he has two). The phone the double (the guy who shot himself) touched earlier is the phone that Conan lends to Jodie, this phone is different from the phone that Akai had touched (that is the trick). That way the FBI is aware that he is dead and similarly the BO as well (since they would be aware of the phone). When Conan gets back a different phone this is the way Akai can tell Conan that everyone "knows" Akai is dead, (because the phone had to be kept for evidence).
I am guessing, referring to the points above:
For (1) Jodie is in on it, and uses the phone is broken as an excuse to get Conan's cell phone
For (2) Jodie is in on it, and makes use of the fact that the phone has the double's fingerprints
For (3) Akai knows Jodie's phone is broken (or at least wants to maintain the illusion that it is for (1))
For (4) it is Akai's "message" to Conan that the plan has succeeded, and Rena has the trust of the BO again; Conan has that look after getting his cell phone back that he knows something has happened
For (5) Conan was aware of the plan and thats why he deleted all the messages on the phone. (I know he is usually cautious .. but this seems like he deleted them beforehand just for this purpose)
This raises the question, is Jodie aware of the plan? She has the problem with her "broken" phone at a crucial time important in the plan -- so that Conan can lend her one of his phones -- the exchange wouldn't have been possible if her phone hadn't been broken, or she couldn't pretend it was broken.
If she is in on the plan then this makes the most sense to me according to the fine details:
She knows the phone has the fingerprints of the double (pretending that this is the phone that Akai touched earlier)
She doesn't tell Conan Akai is dead (she doesn't need to)
She doesn't tell Conan that she is giving him a different phone (she seems to lie about it)
She gets a call from Conan to come to the hotel, and then says the same day that it has been broken (which seems like an obvious lie), which is the excuse for her to get Conan's phone
If Jodie is being watched by the BO, which is likely, then she can't tell Conan about Akai openly, and the BO would want to confirm that the FBI are aware of Akai's death
if she is not part of this plan then some of those details don't work out well but are resolved (weakly) by:
1) Akai tampered with Jodie's phone the night before (before the Andre Camel case), so it would be sort of messed up (working intermittently/whatever)
2) Jodie (momentarily slips by her that Conan has two cell phones) and assumes the one Akai touched is the one Conan lent her, and the one she gives to the police.
*However, this does not explain why Jodie does not tell Conan about Akai... from her relationship with Conan I would suspect that she would, and since these are weak explanations it makes more sense that Jodie is aware of the plan
The timeline:
[File 597]
Conan identifies the man infiltrating the hospital to find Mizunashi Rena in part by having the man touch and use Conan's cell phone (leaving his fingerprints on it)
[File 598]
The man who infiltrated the hospital to find Mizunashi Rena escapes and shoots himself in the head to prevent himself from getting caught.
[File 602]
Akai takes Conan's cell phone from him to stop Conan from calling Agasa to help with Rena's escape (and then gives it back to him)
[File 606]
Conan calls Jodie (Jodie is with James and Akai at the time) and tells her to get over to the hotel of the crime scene (since Andre Camel is a suspect). This is the last time Jodie sees Akai.
[File 607]
When Akai talks to James Black about his meeting with Rena, James is about to call Jodie but Akai stops him from calling.
At New Beika Hotel (where the crime has occured for the case), Jodie gets angry since she says her cell phone has broken since "this morning..." when she was trying to message Akai to get help on the case.
Conan gives a cell phone to Jodie to help her out, because Conan has two phones
(Conan and Jodie's cell phone are the same type and that its ok since he deleted all his messages from it, and he removes his SIM card from it)
[File 609]
When the case is solved, and they are leaving the hotel she tries to call Akai on Conan's cell phone but he doesn't pick up (Jodie even says "I even went through the trouble of borrowing Conan's cell phone")
Jodie gives a cell phone to Takagi for confirm that Akai was killed in the explosion
(apparently the one Akai touched, and the same one that Jodie borrowed from Conan)
Takagi gives a different cell phone back to Jodie, telling her that they need to keep the phone but that its the same model
Jodie gives a cell phone back to Conan, telling him, here "This is the phone I borrowed from you." Conan notices it is a different serial number, but does not say anything about it.
*So this is not related to the above, and is even a bigger stretch, but it also makes some sense that someone in the FBI is working for the BO, possibly Camel, that way the BO knows Rena was released intentionally but this way they get to kill Akai.
just a thought. This way, She needn't be in on it at all and her phone could really be broken. Of course the time and place regarding her taking the cell phone from him, is still questionable.