Christophers father tries to make it up to christopher about lieing to him about his mother, so that he can do his part in taking care of him
"Taking his inspiration from the Sherlock Holmes stories, Christopher knocks on the doors of various neighbors to try to find out what happened to Wellington. His father is furious when he finds out what Christopher is doing, and forbids him from continuing his ‘detecting’. Not understanding the logic behind his father’s aggression or his insistence that he stop, Christopher continues his search and talks to one of his neighbors, Mrs Alexander. Christopher asks her about Mrs Shears and asks, since Mr Shears left his wife, if she thought he had something to do with the murder. Mrs Alexander reveals that Mrs Shears and Christopher’s mother were having an affair, before Christopher’s mother died two years before.
Not long after, Christopher’s father discovers his book, screams at Christopher, grabs him and throws his book away. While at work, Christopher looks for his book among his father’s belongings and finds letters addressed to him, from his mother at an address in London, written a year and a half after she died. Once Christopher realizes his father lied to him, he feels sick and lies in bed. His father finds him and realizes what has happened and apologizes, telling Christopher he was only trying to protect him and that he can trust him. He then tells Christopher that it was he who killed Wellington because, after a relationship with Mrs Shears when Christopher’s mother had left, he had an argument with her and the dog came after him and all his feelings just came bubbling up."
This excerpt is from the novel summary available here on gradesaver. You can link the entire guide below;
