 | #031 "The Red Blot"
Vol. 6, No. 1 Published: 06/01/33 Submitted: 12/16/32 under the same title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Jul 23, 2004 |
THE RED BLOT was originally published in the June 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Crime has struck New York. Strange, unexplainable crime. All orchestrated by the master criminal who leaves behind a red blot. The Shadow must uncover his hidden hoard of mobsters before he can confront the mastermind known as the Red Blot!
The Shadow is on the case. As our story opens, The Shadow is in his sanctum, reviewing the crimes that have left men of wealth in terror. A bank messenger had been shot down in broad daylight. The assailants mysteriously disappeared after a police chase. Upon the sidewalk where the man had been slain was a huge blot of crimson. That was how it all began. But it didn't stop there.
A gambling club was the next target of the strange band. Police had arrived at the club as the crooks were escaping with a large amount of cash. Again, the perpetuators escaped by some strange unknown method. And on the green felt of the central card table in the club was a huge dab of dulled crimson. The Red Blot had struck again.
Then there was the theft of a painting valued at many thousands. Left behind, a large red blot. Once again the criminals departed with impunity, disappearing before the police could gather them up. And most recently, a big-time fight promoter was strangled in his apartment. His bankroll of a hundred thousand dollars was stolen; on his white starched shirt front was the familiar dread sign of spattered crimson.
The police were baffled. They had not gathered a single clue. As we view The Shadow in his sanctum, he begins piecing together what few meager clues his agents have accumulated. The report sheets and clippings seem to point The Shadow in the right direction: old Timothy Baruch's pawnshop.
Timothy Baruch is one of the oddest characters on the East Side. He's been a pawnbroker for years and rumor has it that his safe contains jewels and other wealth of great enough value to tempt the Red Blot. The Shadow decides a visit to the pawnshop is in order. Word from the underworld, via his secret agents, is that the pawnshop will be struck at 11 PM. The Shadow decides to show up early.
With plenty of time to spare, The Shadow appears at Baruch's pawnshop and works his amazing safecracking skills upon the formidable safe. The door swings open, revealing an empty interior. The only thing left in the safe is a white piece of paper containing a crimson splotch in its center. The Red Blot has stuck again!
Who is this strange master criminal who commands the mobs of Manhattan? How is he able to discover the choicest targets for crime? And how are his underlings able to make their escape from the traps of the law? In what manner are they able to disappear, even when surrounded by police? These are the questions that The Shadow must answer. He will use all his cunning to defeat the mastermind known as The Red Blot.
In this early Shadow tale, The Shadow works nearly alone. His agent Harry Vincent is mentioned as having turned in a report, but he doesn't actually appear in the story. Contact man Burbank appears briefly and gets to speak two lines; that's all. The Shadow is acting pretty much as a lone vigilante in this story.
The Shadow appears in disguise as Lamont Cranston, millionaire adventurer and globe-trotter. He also appears once in the guise of an obscure mobsman traversing the badlands. And of course he appears in slouch hat, black cloak and gloves as himself, the master of the night.
Appearing on behalf of the New York Police Department are Commissioner Ralph Weston, Detective Joe Cardona, Detective Sergeant Markham and Inspector Timothy Klein. A new police detective is introduced here. Detective Merton Hembroke is new on the force, but has risen swiftly through fast and effective action. Commissioner Weston is beginning to look to Hembroke for guidance, where he used to seek out Cardona. There's a little subtle rivalry going on between the two.
Detective Hembroke actually carries most of the action in this story. Joe Cardona is mentioned early-on. But he doesn't actually get to show up until the last few chapters. Until then, when we see the law at work, it's Hembroke and Weston that are featured.
Commissioner Weston, of course, believes that The Shadow is a myth. Cardona knows that The Shadow is real. He has encountered him before. But Weston refuses to allow Cardona to officially mention The Shadow in his reports. After all, this unknown man could be more than one person, mistakenly identified as the same man each time. Or he simply might be an illusion of darkness and shadow.
Many of the famous locales originated in these early stories are used here. The underworld dive known as Red Mike's is mentioned, as it The Black Ship another infamous hangout for thugs and mobsters. The proprietor of The Black Ship is now "Louie," Red Mike having opened his own place.
Other now-famous items that we see in this early story include The Shadow's girasol ring. It contains a rare fire open "unmatched in all the world." In these early stories, we were to understand the ring originated in the Romanoff jewel collection. Later, we were told it originated in Central America. And in the 1970's author Walter Gibson explained that there were actually two such girasol rings. (Click here to hear Gibson's explanation.) That explanation conflicted with the assertion in this story that the ring is "unmatched in all the world." As it turns out, there was a matching one.
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.
In this early story, The Shadow has never been seen close-up by any living criminal. This is the more violent Shadow of the early 1930's who shoots to kill. Any thug who gets too close to The Shadow dies. As this story explains:
"There were mobsmen who claimed to have seen him - but only at a distance. Those who had met The Shadow face to face no longer lived to assert their claims."
We also get to see The Shadow use his rubber suction cubs to climb the outside of a brick building. He uses this unique discs to climb to a second story window of Baruch's pawnshop. This isn't the first time they appeared. Their debut was in nearly a year earlier in "The Crime Cult." By the time this story appeared, he had used them in four previous adventures. And he would go on to use them for years to come.
Does The Shadow's famous vial of purplish liquid appear here? It's hard to say. In one scene, The Shadow produces a small vial and uses it to revive a groggy Cardona. But he only places it to Cardona's nostrils. Nothing is imbibed, and no purplish color is mentioned. So although this may not have been that famous fluid, I'm guessing it was. The effect of the vial was the same here as it was in other stories. And it had appeared in other Shadow stories as early as 1931. I'll hazard a guess that this appearance is of that same purplish liquid.
This is a straightforward gangster tale. Nothing magical or ghostly. No strange inventions or crazed scientists. It's The Shadow pitted against one of gangland's most sinister villains. As Commissioner Weston put it, "The most astonishing case of criminal activity in the history of the New York police!"