After following the golden man to the abandoned radio station in town, Violet, along with Dr. Amodeus and Theophilus Willey discover the station’s transmitter is broadcasting a low-frequency signal, with the exact same musical pattern as The Void. Using this information, Dr. Willey follows other musical signals with the same pattern around town and makes a terrifying discovery: there are seven Voids–or holes in the fabric of time–located around Question Mark: one near the endless circle, the second by the disappearing well, the third by the Falls, the fourth by the Question Mark Motel parking lot, the fifth by the House of Dazzling Glass in Question Park, the sixth by New Tomorrow Industries Industrial Park, and the seventh near Foreverland Pet Refrigeration.

Dr. Willey surmises that these holes in time are responsible for the huge number of disappearances and the odd way that time has been working in town. Using the musical key of E minor, Theophilus makes another discovery: there is a hidden workshop beneath the Question Mark Public Library–where library founder Reginald Willey Jr., following his father’s research into the nature of the Void–was attempting to build a machine to fix time in town.

Seeing the enormous scale of the machine, Violet recalls a clue from Reginald Willey’s grave at St. Casimir’s Non-Denominational Cemetery and, escorted once again by Amodeus and Theo, she finds a secret staircase in Reginald Willey Jr.’s crypt, leading them to a vast underground machine.

Meanwhile, Officer Ron Dublowski struggles to identify who is responsible for the drug activity in town and learns that Judah Towns has been beaten and hospitalized in nearby Marietta. Officer Ron travels to Marietta where Judah reveals Lucas Winn, leader of the Circle of Concerned Family and Friends, may not be who he appears to be.

As time continues to tick away, what other challenges must Violet face before she and her allies are able to use Reginald Willey Jr.’s machine to keep everything in town from disappearing? And who else might be interested in such a powerful device?