The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Chapters 97 - 127 Summary

After having two Black Days in a row, Christopher saw five red cars on his way to school, which meant this day will be a Super Good Day. He must wait until school is out to find out what the Super Good Day holds for him. This day it is meeting Mrs. Alexander in a shop, where Christopher is buying some candy.

Mrs. Alexander asks Christopher why he left before she could serve him tea and biscuits the other day. He tells her he was afraid she would call the police on him for investigating Wellington's death.

Outside the shop, Christopher notices Mrs. Alexander's dog, Ivor, and makes friends with him. Mrs. Alexander and Christopher begin to talk about Christopher's love of computers and maths. He tells her he is going to take the A level maths, which impresses her very much. He thinks that since they are getting along it wouldn't hurt to ask her if she knows any information about Mr. Shears. He feels this is not breaking his promise to his father, because he is not asking about Wellington and he is not saying Mr. Shears name at home.

Mrs. Alexander tells Christopher his father probably doesn't like Mr. Shears. Christopher wants to know if Mr. Shears is responsible for putting so much stress on his mother that she had a heart attack and died. Mrs. Alexander is stunned by the news that Christopher's mother is dead. She asks Christopher to take a walk with her in the park. Christopher is reluctant, because he doesn't like the park, which has people who inject themselves with illegal drugs in it. He is also afraid to go into the park with Mrs. Alexander as he considers her a stranger, but in the interest of finding more out about Mr. Shears and Wellington, he accompanies her into the park.

She begins by telling Christopher he cannot repeat anything she says to his father. He promises to not tell his father, so she continues on by telling Christopher Mr. Shears and his mother were very close friends. At first Christopher takes her literally and doesn't understand what she is trying to tell him. Then he asks her if they had sex and she tells him they did, which is why Mr. and Mrs. Shears no longer live together and Christopher's father hates Mr. Shears.

Christopher, after hearing the news, decides to go home. Mrs. Alexander reminds him of his promise and tells him he can talk to her anytime he needs to.

Mr. Jeavons, the school psychologist, tells Christopher the reason he likes maths is because the problems have a logical answer, which is different from life. But Christopher thinks Mr. Jeavons doesn't understand maths, because there isn't always a logical answer. This is illustrated by the The Monty Hall Problem, which in essence states if given three doors to choose from, one of which contains a valuable prize, a contestant should change their choice of doors after being shown what is behind one of the doors. This is because then the contestant has a 2 in 3 chance of getting the valuable prize if they change their pick, instead of the fifty/fifty chance most people think is possible. Christopher likes this example, because it shows math is not straight forward like most people think it is.

Christopher is fascinated with Sherlock Holmes stories, especially The Hounds of the Baskervilles. He feels he is in some ways like Sherlock Holmes, because he too looks for the logical explanation of situations and he likes the clues and red herrings in the story. He also feels if he becomes a detective it would be a detective like Sherlock Holmes.

He takes his book to school to show to Siobhan, who reads about his mother and Mr. Shears. She tells him if he wants to talk about his mother having an affair, she would be happy to talk with him about it. He tells her he is not upset about it, because Mr. Shears is no longer living near him and his mother is dead.

Christopher's memory is sensory based; he doesn't remember faces very well, but smells trigger memories for him. He describes his memory as a DVD player. If he needs to remember something he can fast forward or rewind to find the information he needs. He can remember events, places, and people in great detail, which is why his book is so full of exact details.

The evening after he showed the book to Siobhan, his father comes home from work and finds it in the kitchen. Christopher is engrossed in a science show and forgot he left the book out. His father is enraged, after reading about Mrs. Alexander telling Christopher his mother had an affair. He shouts at Christopher for talking to Mrs. Alexander and then he grabs his arm. Christopher hits his father and the two have a physical altercation. Afterward, Christopher cannot remember the fight, but he does see his father take the book out of the house. He hears his father throw away the book and then sees him lock the back door. Christopher is not allowed to retrieve the book that evening.

Christopher finds out his mother and Mr. Shears had an affair. This explains to him why his father hates Mr. Shears. He is told by Mrs. Alexander to never tell his father she told him about the affair, but he reads about it in Christopher's book. This causes a rift between the father and son. Christopher is a young man who sees the world in black and white, there is no room for in between for him. He has a hard time understanding the nuances of personal interaction, which causes him confusion when faced with new situations.



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