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Broken Window

Album: 36: Danger Signals

Episode: 467

Lesson/Theme: Judging others, justice

Bible Verse: Proverbs 11:12

Characters: Alex, Connie, Whit, Rodney

Writer:

Sound Designer: Rob Jorgensen

Original Air Date: March 24, 2001

Last Air Date: October 27, 2009

Description:
The mystery begins on a seemingly normal day at Whit's End...or as normal as things get around there. Sarah Prachett stumbles upon Alex Jefferson hiding in bushes at Whit's End, keeping his ball bat from view. He begs Sarah not to tell Rodney Rathbone, who is laughing across the street with his friends, he is there. He explains that Rodney is mad at him for an incident earlier in Whit's End and probably mad at Whit, too. The two of them go into Whit's End and discover the front window is broken! The two of them tell Connie that Rodney must have broken it, but when he shows up he says that it was probably Alex who did it. (He was hitting baseballs after all.) When Whit comes in, they all talk at once, telling him they know who broke the window. Instead of trying to sort it out, Whit decides to have a court....with Connie as the judge! While Connie is getting ready, she tries to call Mitch and says that he keeps canceling their get-togethers. Just as Connie goes into the Little Theatre, Mitch shows up and Whit nabs him to be the bailiff. Connie calls the trial to order and the court begins. Everyone gives his own testimony. Rodney says that he saw Alex hitting baseballs and has his bat to prove it. Alex calls Sarah and Whit as his witnesses to prove that he didn't break the window. When Mitch is called to the stand, he reveals that he saw Sarah Prachett practicing juggling. Alex figures out that Sarah was lying and knew the window was broken before she got there. Sarah maintains her innocence. After a brief intermission, Judge Kendall returns her verdicts. Alex Jefferson...not guilty. Rodney Rathbone...not guilty. Sarah Prachett...not guilty. In fact, the guilty one is...John Avery Whittaker. He broke the window when he was sweeping! Whit reveals that he let the court go on so the kids could learn a lesson about honesty and judging others. Connie and Mitch talk and Connie finds that it was a misunderstanding that made Mitch miss their date. The two of them agree to meet that night. Justice is served in Odyssey once again.

Questions:
Why didn't Sarah want to tell the truth about what she saw? Whit said it would have been easier to just tell the truth. How would it have been easier? Alex and Sarah and Rodney immediately decided who they thought had broken the window. Why did Whit say that was a bad thing?