The Mystery of the Clock Tower

City Hall's computerized clock has a mind of its own - no matter how many times it's fixed, it resets itself to 11:45. Eugene takes the case and finds a dozen nearly black roses hidden in the tower, addressed to technical director Alicia Jennings, with a card warning that time is running out. The rare flowers trace back to Michael Butler, a gardener who left Odyssey twenty years ago after his beloved Wendy failed to meet him beneath that very clock at 11:45. But Wendy never got his letter... because her ten-year-old sister Alicia, angry over a slight, tore it up, lied about it, and has hidden the truth ever since. Now someone knows her secret. When a wedding veil appears in the tower, the clock begins running backward, and the city's computers start an unstoppable countdown to 11:45 tomorrow night.

Found on Cause and Effect Album 52 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0661 When You're Right, You're Right Certain she knows best, Emily takes charge of her brother's romantic gesture - whether he wants her help or not.

0662 Grandma's Visit When Grandma Lucia arrives in Odyssey with news that Aunt Rosalita's wedding will happen at the Parker home that very week, the family's frantic hospitality is stretched to its breaking point.

0663 Finish What You... When Olivia takes up guitar lessons, a preschool play, and a birthday promise all at once, she discovers that good intentions alone can't stretch her time far enough.

1 of 3 0664 The Jubilee Singers When Olivia dismisses school as pointless, a portrait of Frederick Douglass introduces her to the students of a struggling university whose only hope may be the songs they carry.

2 of 3 0665 The Jubilee Singers A Fisk choir and their determined director set out on a perilous tour to sing their school out of debt, facing hostility and hardship at every stop.

3 of 3 0666 The Jubilee Singers With Fisk University on the brink of collapse, a weary group of student singers must decide whether to keep performing on a grueling tour that has cost them their health, their dignity, and nearly all hope.

1 of 2 0667 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When City Hall's computerized clock mysteriously keeps resetting itself to 11:45, Eugene's investigation uncovers black roses, a warning note, and a twenty-year-old secret someone in Odyssey has kept hidden.

2 of 2 0668 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When a mysterious countdown on Odyssey's clock tower grips the whole town, Whit and Eugene must untangle black roses, a buried family secret, and a trail of clues that all point somewhere a little too neatly.

0669 Wooton's Broken Pencil Show When Connie steps away from her Kids' Radio show to deal with a blaring car alarm, Wooton takes the microphone and improvises his way toward answering whether entertainment really needs a point.

0670 Stage Fright When an eerie voice haunts the theater during rehearsals for their middle school musical, Emily and Matthew must unmask the phantom before fear shuts down the show.

0671 Fast As I Can When Whit explains the spiritual discipline of fasting, the Whit's End gang each give up something they love for a week - and discover their sacrifices are far harder, and stranger, than expected.

0672 Opposite Day On school Spirit Week's Opposite Day, Olivia's game of doing everything backward lands her in a friendship she never meant to start - while Barrett discovers his five hundred online friends may not add up to much.

0673 The Owlnapping When the Odyssey Owls' beloved mascot vanishes before a critical stretch of games, team captain Ryan must decide whether to chase a ransom-demanding kidnapper or convince his superstitious teammates that their luck was never in a stuffed bird.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 6 more roles

6 supporting roles

Spencer Hicks Dave Fennoy Michael Butler David Bowe Andrew Drevil Micah Cohen Alicia Jennings Heather Simpson Veronica Deborah Marlowe Dredlocks Answering Machine Voice Actor Unknown

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Matthew shadows Eugene for school Career Day and receives a quick lesson about cause and effect when he pushes an unfamiliar button. Soon Mayor Hicks asks Eugene to investigate a stranger problem: no matter how often City Hall's computerized clock is corrected, it resets itself to 11:45.

At City Hall, technical-support director Alicia Jennings explains that every normal diagnostic has failed. The clock's software came from a small local company called Dredlocks, whose owners are no longer answering messages. When Eugene and Matthew inspect the tower mechanism, they discover a dozen nearly black roses addressed to Alicia. A card warns that time is running out.

Connie traces the unusual flower to a hybrid called the Jilted. Michael Butler created it while working at an Odyssey florist twenty years earlier. Its dark petals symbolize lost love, and a man has recently purchased a dozen of them with cash. Whit remembers Michael as a gifted young gardener who abruptly left Odyssey.

Whit and Connie visit Michael at his nursery in Connellsville. Hearing about the roses, 11:45, and the clock tower reminds him of something that happened exactly twenty years ago. Michael had fallen in love with Wendy, whose parents opposed the relationship. Wendy's ten-year-old sister Alicia secretly carried letters between them.

Michael eventually demanded that Wendy elope with him. His final letter told her to meet him beneath the clock tower at 11:45 or he would assume she no longer wanted him and leave forever. Alicia has her own memory of that day. Angry because Wendy had treated her unkindly, she tore up Michael's letter, lied that he had not sent one, and went to bed pleased with her revenge.

Michael waited, but Wendy never came. Days later, Alicia pieced the letter together and realized that her moment of anger had separated them. Frightened, she destroyed it completely and kept the truth secret from Wendy, Michael, and everyone else for twenty years. Michael left town believing Wendy had rejected him and has never returned.

Now someone knows Alicia's secret. Fresh activity in the tower leads Eugene, Matthew, and Alicia upstairs, where they find a wedding veil. The clock begins moving backward, and the city's computer system starts an unstoppable countdown toward 11:45 the following night.