Jodie Starling

Jodie Starling (ジョディ・スターリング Jodi Sutāringu), referred to in earlier episodes as Jodie Saintemillion (ジョディ・サンテミリオン Jodi Santemirion), is an FBI agent in the manga and anime franchise Detective Conan.

Background
Some twenty years ago, when Jodie was still just a little girl, Vermouth killed her parents, who had been working on the Black Organization for the FBI. Vermouth was surprised to find her in her house, and after Jodie had asked what was going on, Vermouth told her to wait by her father until he woke up, and that "a secret makes a woman woman". She then set the house ablaze, thus destroying any evidence that she had been there, along with the corpses of Jodie's parents and any records about the Black Organization.

Fortunately, Jodie had decided to run down the street to the store to buy her father some orange juice, and had thus survived. She was put under protection by the FBI, although she declined the Witness Protection Program, and eventually became an FBI agent herself under the tutelage and patronage of James Black. The only remaining memento from her past is the set of glasses she wears, which had originally belonged to her father.

Personality
Jodie usually is a very serious person, but also has demonstrated a very playful and carefree side (as it is seen when she is Ran's English teacher). She seems to like movies (especially mystery and action-oriented films), and enjoys action video games.

Appellations
Law enforcement=
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Battle Game Trap (Manga: 270-272, Anime: 226-227)
Sonoko, Ran, and Conan are at the arcade where they meet their High School English teacher, Jodie Saintemillion who is an avid gamer. Jodie introduces Ran to a virtual reality fighting game which uses mechanics to simulate a real fight. Ran loses to a gamer named Kengo Bito who taunts her in her lost. Bito plays the game again his rival, Takayasu Shimizu; The battle is projected on a large screen. Bito's avatar overwhelms Shimizu's but stops at the climax of the match. The people in the arcade realize Bito is dead and the police are called in.

Mysterious Passenger (Manga: 287-289, Anime: 230-231)
Gin and Vodka are at a bar discussing their plans with the Black Organization member, Vermouth to capture Sherry. Conan and the Detective Boys are taking the transit bus to a ski resort where they meet Araide and Jodie aboard the bus. Haibara is able to sense that Vermouth is on the bus and hides herself to prevent her from being found. Soon after, the bus is hi-jacked by two armed men who use the passengers as hostages and demand the city to release their boss. ===Secret Rushed Omission (Manga: 338-340, Anime: 271-272)=== Ran, feeling she met the mysterious man before, attempts to remember why. Jodie interrupts the daydreaming Ran in class and asks her the meaning of X to which she is unable to answer correctly. On the way home, they meet Jodie who takes them to the cafe in a department store to warn them about a serial groper. Conan notices a business man named Norihisa Kisugi making a suspicious phone call to a private detective agency director named Katsunori Chuujou. Chuujou demands Kisugi to pay four times the promised amount or he will not hand over the investigation documents concerning an unknown individual. Kisugi agrees and Chuujou enters the department store only to be killed by the unknown culprit. ===English Teacher vs. Great Western Detective (Manga: 341-343, Anime: 277-278)=== While at the Agasa's, Conan recalls his last meeting with the Black Organization. Conan deduces that another Black Organization member must have been at the hotel party. This is when he finally singles out Chris Vineyard as his suspect. Heiji came to Tokyo to help Conan out with the case. Heiji suspects Jodie-sensei of being a possible Black Organization member, and although Conan seems reluctant to this idea, they pay Jodie-sensei a visit at her apartment. They find out here that her full name is "Jodie Saintemillion". After Jodie agrees to go out for a while with Heiji and Conan, the man living next door to Jodie falls dead outside from over 30 stories, coincidentally as the three are outside.

Four Porsches (Manga: 420-422, Anime: 338-339)
===Convenience Store Trap (Manga: 426-428, Anime: 343-344)=== Jodie is planning to leave, and Ran and Sonoko, stunned by the news, decide to throw her a going away party. They go into the store and find young woman named Aya being accused of shoplifting by her boss. They manage to come up with three possible suspects. Ran attempts to call Shinichi or Conan for help, since both are better at solving mysteries, but surprisingly, Jodie stops her and tells her to use her own deduction. ===Head-to-Head Match with the Black Organization: A Dual Mystery on a Full Moon Night (Manga: 429-434, Anime: 345)=== Kogoro receives an invitation to a Halloween cruise; the Halloween cruise is famous for hiring guests to star in a horror film. Conan receives the same invitation from Vermouth; the invitation however is addressed to Conan Edogawa and Shinichi Kudo, meaning Vermouth knows his true identity. During the cruise, the party members are divided into groups with team devil consisting of Kogoro, Sonoko, and people disguised as a werewolf, a mummy, a medusa and an invisible man. During the party, the host is shot by a crossbow, attached to the arrow is a card from team devil. ===Find the Buttock's Mark (Manga: 435, 437, Anime: 346-347)=== Jodie offers Haibara to join the Witness Protection Program; however, she turned down the offer. Jodie reminds that Haibara has the courage that she lacked 20 years ago. ===Teitan High School's Ghost Story (Manga: 457, 459, Anime: 361-362)=== ==='''Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out (Manga: 500-504, Anime: 425)'''=== ===The Shadow of the Black Organization (Manga: 550, Anime: 462)=== ===Mysterious Job Case (Manga: 553-554, Anime: 464)===

Clash of Red and Black (Manga: 587, Anime: 492)
Conan learns from Ran that she had been unable to contact Eisuke since the winter break. She tells him Eisuke last told her that he had found someone from his father's company at Haido Central Hospital, the same hospital in which Rena is currently hospitalized. Conan contacts Jodie Starling to inform her Eisuke may be searching for Rena and learns from her that Eisuke's father, Ethan Hondou, was a spy for the CIA who were investigating the Black Organization. She reveals that Rena and the Black Organization murdered him four years ago. Conan phones Ran asking her how Eisuke recognized the colleague. She replies that Eisuke recognized the person through the phones keypad tone which played the song "Nanatsu no Ko", the phone number of the Black Organization's leader. Conan realizes that a Black Organization member is in Haido Central Hospital. Fearing that the criminal syndicate may be close to finding Rena, Conan and the FBI investigate the hospital. After asking a nurse about a suspicious person, the FBI narrows the suspects list to hospitalized patients between December 18 and December 21 and begin their search for the Black Organization member. ===Conan vs. Double Code Mystery (Manga: 622, Anime: 509)=== ===Detective Boys vs. Robber Group (Manga: 677-679, Anime: 563-564)=== Jodie Starling encounters a man on the street in the Beika district who looks exactly like Shuichi Akai, but with a huge burn scar on the side of his face. After chasing him to an alley where he disappears, she dismisses it as an illusion. She heads to the bank to withdraw some money when a bank robbery occurs. The heavily armed bank robbers begin taking cellphones away from the customers and separate them into two groups; one group are customers who are with relatives or friends, and the others are those who are alone. They order those who are alone to bind the hands, eyes, and mouth of the rest of the patrons.

===Crisis Beckoned by the Red Omen (Manga: 700-702, 704, Anime: 578-581)=== ===Conan vs. Heiji, Deduction Battle Between the Detectives of the East and West (Manga: 779-780, Anime: 651)=== ===Jodie's Memories and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Trap (Manga: 850-852, Anime: 734)===

Kogoro in the Bar (Manga: 855, Anime: 739)
===Bathroom Where Ran Collapsed As Well (Manga: 856, Anime: 740)===

Plot timeline
Jodie appears around the same time as Vermouth as Ran's new English teacher at Teitan High under the name of "Jodie Saintemillion". She comes off as somewhat strange, and refers to Conan as "Cool Guy", which caused fans to believe that she knew his secret. (In fact, she now knows he's an incredible detective, but it is unclear if she knows his true identity). She is noted for often using the phrase of her enemy, Vermouth ('A secret makes a woman woman'). In Episode 226-227, Jodie, after watching Conan suspiciously, informs someone over the phone that she has found their target, whom she refers to as "Rotten Apple".

First indications of Jodie's FBI training are shown during the confrontation with the bus hijackers. She stealthily turns on the safety to one of the hijacker's guns, while knocking him down thus he cannot shoot it when he attempts to fire at her. She appears later in Episodes 271-272 and gives Conan information that allows him to solve the case. In Episodes 277-278, she is investigated by Conan and Heiji, both believing her to be Vermouth in disguise, as she pretends to not know japanese despite being perfectly fluent, and even helps them solve a case in the same episode.

It is not until her personal confrontation with Vermouth that Jodie's past and true identity as an FBI agent is revealed, as well as the real reason she's in Japan and the person she's looking for. She is tracking down Vermouth, and after a brief confrontation with her, Jodie is rescued by Conan and her colleague Shuichi Akai. Following this, she offers Ai a place in the Witness Protection Program, but Haibara declines. She does not appear again until when she helps Conan prevent an assassination plot of a politician orchestrated by the Black Organization and the subsequent capture and hospitalization of the Black Organization member, Kir.

Jodie has been heavily involved in the Black Organization arc in Episodes 492-504, which has involved the Black Organization and the FBI. The death of her partner, Akai, takes a very emotional toll on her. As it later turns out, they used to be lovers before Akai infiltrated the Black Organization by dating Akemi Miyano, with whom he eventually became more intensely involved. Still, despite their breakup Jodie does maintain strong feelings for him.. When a man who looks like Shuichi Akai appears, Jodie is convinced that the stranger is her partner who has lost his memory, but he is gone before she can affirm her suspicion.

Hints that Jodie was not Vermouth, but an FBI agent

 * The records of Kogoro Mouri's cases that Vermouth stole did not contain any cases involving Jodie Saintemillion, but did contain the murder case Tomoaki Araide was involved in. This was the clue that allowed Conan Edogawa to deduce Araide was Vermouth and not Jodie.
 * Jodie's copies of the pictures of Ran and Conan on Vermouth's dartboard have irregular borders indicating they were photographs of Vermouth's pictures.undefinedThis detail was overlooked in the anime. Also Jodie has a picture of Dr. Araide.
 * Jodie calls Conan "cool guy" after the first time they meet in reference to the caption on Vermouth's photo of Conan, but she switches to "cool kid" after that. This showed that Jodie did not know Conan was Shinichi, unlike Vermouth who was grateful to Conan (and thus trying not to target him) after Shinichi saved her in the New York case.
 * Jodie mentions the nickname for the FBI is "The Bureau".

Relationships analysis
Due to her undercover status in Japan, Jodie’s personality and style of communication varies from person to person. Outside of a select few who know of her involvement with the FBI, Jodie maintains her cover at all times, first being a high school English teacher at Teitan High, and later an American tourist vacationing with her “boyfriend”.

Shuichi Akai
Shuichi Akai and Jodie are co-workers that came to Japan as part of an FBI unit led by James Black in pursuit of Vermouth and the Black Organization. While their relationship is mostly professional in the current-timeline, the two were romantically involved four to five years prior. When Akai was given the mission to earn the trust of and become a mole inside the Black Organization, he got close to Akemi Miyano for the purpose of using her inside connections. Despite his original intentions, however, Akai genuinely fell in love with Akemi, leading him to break up with a blindsided Jodie. Akai calmly explained his actions to her by saying, “To be able to love two women at the same time…it’s not that handy a personality.” While the two were no longer lovers, Jodie's feelings for Akai never swayed. Despite an end to their relationship, the two continued on as colleagues until the fateful day when Akai was killed. While his death was a tragic loss for all those in the FBI, Jodie took it especially hard. When first hearing the news, she was in complete denial that Akai could die. Despite her frantic attempts at proving Akai was alive, however, Jodie came to the cold hard truth on her own, bringing the agent to tears.

Since the incidents of Clash of Red and Black, Akai has become an understandably sore topic for Jodie. On one occasion when conversation about drinks led Camel to mention Akai's love for Bourbon alcohol and how his presence would have been helpful, Jodie furiously tells him that Shuichi Akai is dead and he should never mention him again. She storms away from her friends. In addition to an inability to cope with this loss, her thought process has become seemingly more aggressive and risky, something that was unheard of during her long, careful investigation of Vermouth. Jodie's mindset has been especially fixated since her encounter with Scar Akai. When Camel mentioned that the sudden reappearance of Akai could be a trap set up by the organization, Jodie refused to accept the possibility of such a scenario.

James Black
Although James Black is in charge of the FBI agents stationed in Japan, his relationship with Jodie couldn’t be further from the usual boss and subordinate stereotype. In fact, during several occasions, Jodie takes over the role of giving out orders while James serves as her chauffeur. While there are many possibilities to explain such an arrangement, such as her strong personality and supposedly bad driving skills, James does not seem to mind in the least. The two have been acquainted long before she joined the FBI, dating back at least twenty years before the series. Following the murder of Jodie’s father, also an FBI agent, James tried convincing the young girl to join the witness protection program. Both out of concern for her safety and respect for his deceased friend, James pushed the offer hard and often, but Jodie refused him time and time again until at some point when she made him a deal; she would join the program if, and only if, she was promised a position in the FBI when she was older. Whether or not he accepted the deal, Jodie’s current employment with the FBI seems to speak for itself. Despite this unusual working relationship, Jodie is a loyal and hard-working agent that wholeheartedly respects the man whom she has come to see as a sort of father figure. Work aside, the two have been shown to spend time together as friends, often along with Camel.

Andre Camel
She first meets Andre Camel while protecting Kir, and his lies make her suspicious. Later he is forced to knock her out to carry out Conan and Akai's plan to bring Kir back to the Black Organization. Jodie has twice needed to pretend Camel is her lover in order to escape probing questions. The first time was to trick the police when Camel was a prime suspect in a murder case, and later to dodge awkward questions from Ran about why Jodie was still in Japan. Camel plays along awkwardly.

Vermouth
Bitter hatred for Vermouth is putting Jodie's feelings very lightly. The animosity she holds for the American actress stems back twenty years, during Jodie’s early childhood, when her father was murdered in cold blood and home burned to a crisp by none other than Vermouth. Jodie’s father was an FBI agent working in secret on files pertaining to Vermouth. Thinking that Jodie would die along with her mother and the files when the fire was set ablaze, Vermouth allowed the young girl to wait with her daddy for the bedtime story he promised her before dying. Things did not work out as planned, however, when Jodie left to buy orange juice at the grocery store as the fire began, later returning to find her house in shambles. After hearing that only two bodies were discovered, Vermouth desperately searched for the escapee, but to no avail; Jodie had been placed into the witness protection program by her father’s colleagues.

While Vermouth had since moved on from that incident, Jodie’s whole life was shaped during that fateful night. Albeit hesitant at first to join the program, Jodie made a deal with the persistent FBI agent, James Black: if promised a place in the FBI, she would take up his offer and go into the witness protection program. Ever since then, the burning desire to avenge her father, mother, and lost childhood drove Jodie to seek out the murderess. Vowing to always remember what took place, Jodie even took up the infamous motto that Vermouth spoke on the night of their encounter: “A secret makes a woman, woman.” When, years later, the FBI found a new lead on Vermouth, Jodie was given the opportunity to finally bring the high ranking organization member to justice.

Compared to the girl she made an orphan, Vermouth’s strong dislike for Jodie pales in comparison but exists nonetheless. When the two were finally reunited after a long period of time where both posed as school teachers, Vermouth was just as determined to finish what she started twenty years ago as Jodie was to bringing her nemesis into FBI custody. Although intervention from both sides led to a stalemate during their encounter, their fierce rivalry lives on, each with renewed efforts to put an end to the other.

Conan Edogawa
Impressed by his intelligence, deductionary abilities and knowledge, Jodie considers Conan her "favorite detective". She always takes him seriously, and lets him help her in figuring out plans. Also, it is shown that Jodie has placed great trust on the boy detective. It is because when Conan asks a favor, or is asked by him to do a certain action, even though it doesn't make much sense, Jodie complies without question.

Ran Mouri
Although the two first met off screen when Jodie began teaching at Teitan High, Jodie’s stern personality and tough teaching style left a bad, perhaps more uncertain, impression on Ran. After coincidentally running into Jodie after school one day at an arcade, an entirely new impression was left on Ran Mouri. The high school girl began to admire and enjoy Jodie’s fun, friendly side. On more than one occasion, Ran even went to Jodie for advice. Unbeknownst to Ran, however, Jodie was putting on a front, at times even using the girl as a means to see Conan in action. As an FBI agent, Jodie closely monitored Ran and Conan after discovering a dartboard with their pictures during her investigation of Vermouth. As a school teacher, Jodie easily managed to keep close tabs on the girl labeled “Angel”.

When Jodie left her teaching position, the class was deeply saddened. Despite Jodie’s protests, Ran and Sonoko attempted to throw their favorite teacher a farewell party, which later turned into a case. To prove a friend’s innocence, Ran attempted to call Shinichi to solve the case for her. Jodie, however, took the phone away, claiming that Ran needed to learn how to become independent. This gesture helps encourage Ran to try and solve the case on her own, further strengthening Ran’s admiration for Jodie. When the time came to say good-bye, however, Ran went to use Jodie’s bathroom only to find photos of her friends and her hidden behind the sink mirror. Concerned by the discovery, Ran couldn’t decide what to make of the photos. When she finally found the courage to bring the topic up to Jodie during the latter’s hospitalization, the quick thinking FBI agent explained that displaying photos of friends was an American tradition. Relieved to hear her teacher's reasoning, Ran's admiration and respect for Jodie quickly returned.

Ai Haibara
Jodie takes great interest in Ai Haibara originally due to her investigation of Vermouth; although the reasons at first where unknown to her, Jodie suspected that there was a connection between the woman who Vermouth called “Sherry” and the young girl by the name of Ai Haibara. Following the showdown with Vermouth, Jodie encourages Haibara to take part in the witness protection program, an offer that she declines after much consideration. As an FBI agent, she had hoped that Haibara would accept the offer, but because of their similar backgrounds, Jodie’s feelings were far closer to acceptance and admiration than they were disappointment. While the two have yet to completely realize just how similar their pasts are, Jodie has admitted to seeing a little bit of herself in the young girl, even going as far as to comment on how Haibara had something that she lacked at that age; friends who she can depend on. Although the relationship was mostly one-sided in the beginning, Haibara has started to see Jodie as a trustworthy figure of whom she can put her faith in, particularly after the many situations where FBI involvement has saved the day.

Tomoaki Araide
When Conan and Jodie succeeded in unmasking Vermouth and subsequently foiling her plans, the Araide family returned home to Japan, much to the dismay of the FBI agents who had gone to such lengths to protect them. It was encouraged that they take part in the Witness Protection Program, but Tomoaki Araide declined on behalf of the family. In order to make the transition back to daily life as smooth as possible, Jodie filled Tomoaki in on what he had missed, omitting certain details while making other things up to protect intelligence, allowing the doctor to return to his regular life again. During their final phone call, Jodie tells him that they will not speak again. Tomoaki uses this final opportunity to ask if Vermouth was really a bad person, infuriating Jodie who asked how a good person could kill while wearing a smile.

Heiji Hattori
Jodie has some interest in Heiji. In the English Teacher vs. Great Western Detective case, both Heiji and Jodie learn a lot about each other and their secrets. She correctly deduces that Heiji is very proficient in English, and in turn, Heiji deduces that she is also very good in Japanese. She relates Shinichi with Heiji; the two share a lot in common, which she found very interesting. Though Conan is her favorite detective, she respects Heiji's capabilities and helps Heiji and Conan whenever circumstances bring them together on a case.

Character popularity
eBookJapan held a character popularity poll from April 12, 2011 to May 12, 2011 in which readers of Detective Conan (international included) could vote for their favorite character. Jodie placed 17th in the poll with 37 votes out of the 5,883 that were cast.

Name origin
Jodie Starling was named after both Clarice Starling, one of the main protagonists in Silence of the Lambs, and actress Jodie Foster who performed Starling's role in the movie adaptation of the same name. Her fake name, Saintemillion, was from Saint-Émilion, a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in south-western France.

Trivia

 * As a kid, Jodie's hairstyle looks similar to Haibara's.
 * According to Akai, Jodie has no driving skills; however, she was perfectly capable of performing a skidding about face with her car when being followed by Vermouth.