The first observation you make is not with your nose, but with your eyes. There are footprints here, and you know immediately that they are your uncle’s. His left foot is smaller than his right. They’ve clearly been made within the last hour.
So did he come here before your run-in, or after? You start smelling the footprints to see if you can learn anything from them.
Odd. They smell of smoke. Why would that be?
You don’t know how useful it would be to follow your uncle’s trail, in either direction, so you take a look around first.
And then you see that the clock is still showing seven-thirty. Is it broken? If that was all, why was your uncle so cryptic about it?
Perhaps because of his own actions. Just what was he doing over here?
Yet, if you investigate further, you might be disciplined. Especially if you approach the clock tower. You need to think carefully before you act.
You decide that the smell of smoke should be safe to investigate at least a little more. Sniffing the prints again, you realize it gets stronger as you follow the trail backwards, which also takes you further away from the clock tower.
That settles it. You follow the footprints backwards, hoping to find the source of the smell.
Make sure to check the clock as you walk backwards!