"The Red Blot"

A very straight forward cover for a pretty straight forward tale about gangsters.  What is noteworthy in this one is the description of the unusual clock from the sanctum that made its way into a few tales.  I'll let John explain it from his review of this adventure.

"We also get a more complete look at the strange clock in The Shadow's sanctum. This strange clock was mentioned in various stories, but always the description was rather vague. It was always described as a clock of curious construction, in which the hands of a normal clock were replaced by three concentric circles. But in what way the clock operated was left unspecified. This story clears up the clock matter quite nicely. It gives a complete description of the clock and how it works.

The clock contains three concentric circles. These circles are stationary; they don't spin or rotate. The inner circle has numbers 1-12 for the hours. The middle ring is marked for minutes. The outer ring is marked for seconds. In the grooves separating these three sections are three small rings. The rings move around the dials, each revealing a single digit at a time.

One thing I found interesting about the clock is that it is digital, not analog. That is to say, the ring showing the hour always shows exactly one of the digits, it's never between digits. For example, at 1:15 the ring for the hour would not be partway between 1 and 2. It would be centered on the 1 continually until 1:59:59. When 2 o'clock arrives, then the ring would move from the 1 to the 2. Similarly the minute and second indicators move in increments, rather than smoothly."