Please note that the actual time may not be accurate due to the description provided. It was mentioned that the clock shows 3:45, which is 15 minutes slow, and also it was stated that the actual time is a quarter past an hour. Therefore, with the given information, the actual time could be read in two ways: 1) 3:45 is 15 minutes slow, so adding 15 minutes to 3:45 could be 3:60 which is not possible on a 12-hour clock, so we place the 15 minutes on the other side of the hour making it 4:00. 2) The actual time is a quarter past an hour, which would mean it should be 3:15, but the clock shows 3:45, so there's a contradiction here. However, assuming the first information about the clock being 15 minutes slow is correct and disregarding the second part which seems to contradict the first part, the actual time is most likely 4:00.