The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: CHAPTER SUMMARIES (Peter Kane) – Flashcards

The book opens seven minutes after midnight, when the narrator, Christopher John Francis Boone, finds Wellington, the poodle belonging to Mrs. Shears, his neighbor, dead on Mrs. Shears's lawn with a garden fork through its side. Christopher touches the dog's muzzle and observes that it is still warm. He wonders who killed Wellington, and why.

Departing from his story (Christopher does this frequently throughout the novel), Christopher explains that he has difficulty determining people's emotions from their facial expressions. But he can name each country in the world, their capitals, and every prime number up to 7,057. He recalls the first time he met Siobhan, eight years earlier. She drew faces on a piece of paper and asked him what emotions the faces expressed. Christopher could only identify the sad face, which represents how he felt when he found Wellington dead, and the happy face, which shows how he feels when he wanders the neighborhood at three or four in the morning. He could not identify the other emotions.

The story returns to Mrs. Shears's lawn, where Christopher removes the garden fork and picks up Wellington. Mrs. Shears appears on her patio and yells at Christopher to get away from her dog. Mrs. Shears does not stop, even when he puts the dog down. So Christopher puts his hands over his ears and curls into a ball on the grass, trying to block out the sound.

Christopher reveals that we are reading his murder-mystery novel, written after Siobhan advised him to try writing a story he would want to read. Siobhan thought that the opening of the novel should grab people's attention, which is one of the reasons that Christopher started it with Wellington's death. The other reason is that he could not start it any other way: this story actually happened to him, and he has trouble putting events in any order other than the order in which they occurred.

At the crime scene, two police officers arrive. Christopher initially finds their presence comforting, but he grows agitated when the policeman begins to ask him questions too quickly, seeming to implicate him in the murder. Christopher curls into a ball again, and he hits the police officer when the officer tries to lift him to his feet.

Christopher states that his book will not be funny. To be funny you have to tell jokes, and jokes often rely on the multiple meanings of words. The fact that one word can have multiple meanings confuses Christopher and makes him uncomfortable, so he will not put jokes in his book.

The officer arrests Christopher for assault. As the officer drives him away, Christopher considers the Milky Way through the window of the squad car. He feels comforted by the order he sees in the stars, and by the fact that policeman has done his job in a predictable manner.

Christopher describes the rules used to determine prime numbers, a potentially infinite number of which exist. He thinks prime numbers act like life: logical, but impossible to fully comprehend. He likes them, so he has ordered the chapters in his book according to prime numbers.

At the police station, Christopher empties his pockets at the front desk, carefully describing every item. When the police put him in his cell, he marvels that the cell is almost a perfect cube. He wonders if Mrs. Shears lied and told the police that he killed Wellington.

Christopher finds people confusing because they often communicate non-verbally through facial expressions. They also use metaphors, which equate one thing with another when neither has any actual relation to the other.

Father arrives at the station and greets Christopher by holding up his hand with his fingers outspread. Christopher does the same, allowing their fingers to touch. Christopher explains that they greet each other this way because he does not like to be hugged. An officer takes Christopher to the investigator, who releases Christopher with a stern warning.

Christopher explains that, in order to form a lie, he would have to pick an event that did not happen to replace the one that did. But he can't pick any one thing from among the infinite number of things that did not happen, so he does not tell lies. Consequently, everything that he has written in his book is true.

On the drive home, Christopher tries to apologize to his father for making him come to the police station, but his father does not want to talk about it. When they arrive home, Christopher goes to his room. At 2:07 A.M. he goes to the kitchen to get a drink before bed, and notices his father sitting alone in the living room with tears in his eyes. Christopher asks him if he feels sad about Wellington. His father stares at him for a long time before replying that he do.

Christopher remembers the day two years ago when Mother died. He came home from school and found the house empty. When his father arrived home later, his father made several phone calls to locate her and then went out for a few hours. When he returned, he told Christopher that Mother was in the hospital because of a heart problem and that Christopher wouldn't be able to visit. Christopher decided to make her a get-well card, and Father promised to bring it to her the next day.

The morning after Wellington's murder, Christopher spots four red cars in a row on his bus ride to school, making the day a Good Day. Christopher explains that he ranks the day according to the number and color of the cars he sees on his way to school. Three red cars in a row equal a Good Day, and five equal a Super Good Day. Four yellow cars in a row make it a Black Day. On Black Days Christopher refuses to speak to anyone and sits by himself at lunch. The school psychologist, Mr. Jeavons, points out that Christopher's system surprises him since Christopher is so logical. Christopher says he likes to have an order for things, even if the order isn't logical. He acknowledges it makes him feel safe. He says Father puts his trousers on before his socks every morning because it is his order, not because of logic. Christopher decides that he will set out once more to find Wellington's killer because it is a Good Day.

Christopher recalls that Mother died two weeks after going into hospital. He never saw her there, but Father said that she sent lots of love and had his get-well card on her bedside table before she had an unexpected heart attack. Her death surprised Christopher because she had lived an active and healthy life and was only thirty-eight years old. On the night she died, Mrs. Shears came over and held Father against her chest to comfort him. She also cooked dinner, and afterward Christopher beat her in Scrabble.

Back in the present, Christopher sets out to investigate Wellington's murder. He knocks on Mrs. Shears's door, and when she answers, explains that he did not kill Wellington. Mrs. Shears, however, closes the door in his face. Christopher walks back down the sidewalk, and he can see Mrs. Shears's shadow as she watches him through the frosted glass of her doorway. He waits until she leaves, then sneaks around the side of her house and jumps the garden wall. In the garden he finds a locked shed. He looks through the window of the shed and sees the garden fork used in the murder. Christopher concludes that the murderer had to know Mrs. Shears in order to have access to her garden fork. Just then Mrs. Shears discovers him in her garden and threatens to call the police. Christopher goes home, happy to have discovered a clue.

Christopher remembers a vicar called Reverend Peters who said heaven was a different kind of place than our universe. Christopher believes that heaven doesn't exist. He reasons that heaven could possibly lie on the other side of a black hole, but for the dead to get there they'd have to be fired off into space by rocket.

Inspired by his Good Day, Christopher draws a map of his neighborhood and sets out to question the people on his block about the murder. He does not like talking to strangers, so he clutches his Swiss Army knife tight inside his pocket as he approaches Mr. Thompson's house. Mr. Thompson claims to have been away on the night of the murder. The resident at Number 44 does not have any information. Christopher next tries number forty-three, but the occupant jokes about policemen getting younger and younger, and Christopher, who hates being laughed at, walks away. He skips Number 38 because he fears the people who live there. At Number 39, Mrs. Alexander, an elderly neighbor, works in her front garden. She has nothing to add regarding Wellington's murder but invites Christopher in for tea. He refuses to go inside, so Mrs. Alexander decides to bring biscuits out for him. Christopher, however, worries she might be calling the police and walks away. Christopher has an insight about who might have killed Wellington. He figures there are three reasons someone might kill a dog: because they hate the dog; because they are crazy; or because they want to upset the owner. Christopher cannot think of anyone who hated Wellington and does not know anyone who is crazy. He does know that most murderers know their victim and that the only person who would want to upset Mrs. Shears is Mr. Shears. Mr. Shears left about two years ago and didn't come back. When Mother died, Mrs. Shears would come over and cook for Christopher and his father because she felt lonely, too. Sometimes she even stayed overnight. Christopher doesn't know why Mr. Shears left Mrs. Shears, but if Mr. Shears didn't want to live in the same house as Mrs. Shears anymore he probably hates her. He might have decided to kill Wellington to make her sad. Christopher decides to find out more about Mr. Shears.

Christopher considers all of the other children at his school stupid. He knows he should refer to them as "special needs" but finds that term silly because everyone has special needs. Siobhan needs very thick glasses in order to see, and Mrs. Peters has to wear a beige-colored hearing aid in order to hear. Christopher plans to prove that he is not stupid like his peers by scoring an A grade on his A-level math test, which no one at his school has done before. After the A-level math test he will an even more advanced math test and an advanced physics test, and use his scores to attend college in another town.

Christopher describes the arguments that his mother and father used to have as so bad that he thought they might get divorced. Their fighting, he says, had to do with the stress that resulted from taking care of him and dealing with his behavioral problems. He recalls that sometimes his behavioral problems would make his mother and father angry at each other. His mother used to say Christopher would lead her to an early grave. He writes that many of his problems have gone now, because he has grown up and can make decisions for himself.

Christopher wants to be an astronaut. He explains the many ways the job fits him: he is intelligent, he understands how machines work, and he doesn't mind small spaces, so long as he doesn't share them with anyone. Besides, no yellow or brown things exist on spaceships, and the stars would surround him. It would be a dream come true.

At school the next day, Christopher shows Siobhan his "finished" book. Now that he has promised Father not to continue the case he won't be able to write it anymore. Siobhan says it does not matter, that he has written a good book and should be proud to have written it. But to Christopher the book lacks an ending. He has not found the murderer and the idea that the person who killed Wellington could be living somewhere nearby, waiting for him when he goes for a walk at night, bothers him. After all, murderers tend to know their victims. Christopher tells Siobhan that Father told him never to mention Mr. Shears's name in the house again. Siobhan points out that Mrs. Shears is a friend of Christopher and Father, so perhaps Father doesn't like Mr. Shears because he left Mrs. Shears, which would constitute doing something bad to a friend. Christopher points out that Father said Mrs. Shears isn't a friend anymore either. The next day Christopher sees four yellow cars in a row on his way to school, making it a Black Day. He doesn't eat anything at lunch and reads by himself in a corner during class. The next day he sees four yellow cars again. On the third day he keeps his eyes closed on the ride to school to avoid another Black Day.

Five days later, Christopher sees five red cars in a row on his way to school, making the day a Super Good Day. He feels that something special will happen. When he gets home, he goes to the shop at the end of the road to buy candy and runs into Mrs. Alexander from house number thirty-nine. Mrs. Alexander asks where he went the other day. When she brought out the biscuits for him, he was gone. Christopher confesses he was afraid she would call the police because he was poking his nose into other people's business. Christopher exits the shop and pets Mrs. Alexander's dog, which is tied up. He realizes Father didn't ban him from talking about Mr. Shears outside of the house, so he asks Mrs. Alexander about Mr. Shears. She remarks that Christopher knows why Father doesn't like Mr. Shears much. When Christopher asks if Mr. Shears killed Mother, Mrs. Alexander expresses shock to learn that Mother is dead and assures Christopher that Mr. Shears didn't kill Mother. Christopher asks Mrs. Alexander why she said he knew why Father didn't like Mr. Shears. Mrs. Alexander reveals that Mr. Shears and Mother had an affair. She explains that Father dislikes Mr. Shears as a result, and that Christopher should not mention Mr. Shears in front of Father. Mrs. Alexander makes Christopher promise not to tell Father about their conversation. Christopher goes home.

Christopher tells us that Mr. Jeavons believes Christopher likes math because, in math, straightforward answers exist for every problem, unlike in life. Christopher disagrees that math problems always have straightforward answers, and uses the Monty Hall problem as proof. In 1990, a reader sent a question to Marilyn vos Savant, a columnist at Parade magazine, who had the world's highest IQ. The question asked what to do on a game show in which you try to win a car by picking one of three doors. Two of the doors hide goats, while one hides a car. When you pick a door, the host opens one of the two other doors to show a goat, then gives you a chance to change doors. In her answer, vos Savant said you should always change the door you have picked. After she published her answer, mathematicians and scientists wrote in claiming she was wrong, but in fact the math backs up vos Savant's advice. Christopher thinks the problem shows that intuition can be wrong, and that sometimes numbers are complicated and not straightforward at all.