Episode 1178: The Crimson Skull of Mt. Washio (Part 1)
Scenario: Conan, Ran, Kazuha, and Heiji are on their way to Mount Washio to see the beautiful scenery, with Kogoro tagging along because he is worried about his daughter going on a trip far away (of course, it is definitely not because of the worry Kazuha mentioned). The reason Ran chose this location was because even if Momiji ever wanted to interfere, she would have to climb the mountain to exhaustion like the poor Kogoro, although Momiji mentioned that she had a Karuta tournament in Tokyo but we all know that it was an excuse for her and Iori to go on that Shinkansen. It suddenly starts to rain, forcing the group of five to run to find shelter nearby, and Kogoro happens to see a shrine there.
There, the chief priest Tetsushin happily lets everyone in and asks the two monks, Kentetsu and Tontetsu, to welcome the guests. While Kazuha expresses her regret that the rain interrupts her wish to see the sunset on the mountain, Kentetsu says that the rain will stop by this afternoon. He also adds that the sunset here is also a very famous place, not just Mount Washio, which Kazuha confirms to be true through her tablet. She then suddenly asks Ran about what she is going to say after that dream-like situation happens, to which Ran reveals to Kazuha that she is dating Shinichi, much to Kazuha's delight because she hasn’t heard from the two for a while and worried that something unfortunate had happened.
Kogoro and Heiji suddenly come in without their clothes as they were drenched in the rain all the time before reaching the shrine. Then Tontetsu comes in with their clothes as well, but not with Heiji’s amulet as it disappeared without the monk’s noticing. The other two happen to be passing by and notice the incident, but have no idea where it was as well. Conan suggests asking someone else in the shrine, thinking that there is someone else in the shrine, much to the surprise of the three as to how Conan knew about this. The boy explains that when they borrowed the towel to dry themselves, Conan saw four sets of toothbrushes and toothbrush cups, while in the shrine they had seen three people so far.
The chief priest explains that the other person was a monk who had disappeared 5 days ago after being punished to go to the confessional for smoking. Kentetsu adds in: At the same time that he disappeared, there were a few will-o'-the-wisps going up to the stair leading to that confessional, and that the monk was believed to be captured by the crimson skeleton. The chief priest tells them about the crimson skeleton, a monster that appeared with the said will-o'-the-wisps to devour the souls of wrongdoers and leave behind the empty corpse of the victims.
The scene changes after Kogoro finishes using the restroom and is about to return to the room, when he notices an iron ball falling down from the stairs that seems to come from the aforementioned confession room. But the only thing waiting for him in the room is that someone is about to attack him. After a while, Ran becomes worried because her father has been gone for a long time and hasn’t returned, at the same time a very terrifying scream is heard. When the group goes outside, many will-o'-the-wisps are seen coming up the stairs. Waiting for everyone who enters the room is the body of the missing priest.
While Heiji and Conan are analyzing the scene after the three monks arrive due to the girls' screams, Heiji suddenly finds his amulet; and before leaving the scene and waiting for the police to arrive, Conan notices a piece of wood shaving near the victim's body. Meanwhile, Kogoro wakes up in some strange room being tied but his phone was not taken away, Kogoro has to somehow inform either Ran or Conan about his condition before he ends up with a fate like the missing monk.
Back with Heiji and Conan, the chief priest recounts when is asked by Heiji: A month ago, a tourist had seen will-o'-the-wisps walking on the nearby stone stairs, and had followed out of curiosity, only to discover the burning body of Jun Marata, a Buddhist iconographer who had complained about the temple's Kannon statue, but had not come to talk to the priest as he arranged. The two detectives then begin to discuss the details, including how Heiji found the amulet. Additionally, Conan receives a message about the statues from Kogoro, who is missing, and the truth of the case seems to be about to be solved.
