During the rising action, a lot of important elements are described, and is honestly the most important section of the story. It sets up the plot line for all of the following surprises, and explains Christopher in ways the reader would have never expected. It is revealed that Chris is AMAZING at math. He writes his book with all of the chapters being prime numbers, because he likes them. He calculates formulas in his head when he needs to calm down, and is the only person in his class pursuing an A-Level math exam and wanting to attend a university. He has a pet rat named Toby which he absolutely adores, and does not waste his time with things that do not matter. He does not enjoy chatting, because chatting has no purpose. When people ask him what he would say to his Mother if she was still alive, he says it does not matter because obviously she is not alive. He hates the color yellow, and LOVES red. The number of colored cars he sees determines what sort of day he will have, because he needs some sort of logic in his life determining how his days will go. He is terrible at reading other people's emotions, so he does not tell jokes.
When Christopher realizes he MUST investigate what happened, he disregards his Father's order and makes a map of the neighborhood. He begins inquiring about who killed Wellington to everyone around him. He sees Mrs. Shears in the backyard, and then notices her cabinet full of gardening tools. Since that cabinet always remains locked, it MUST have been someone who personally knew Mrs. Shears who killed Wellington. When she finds him in the yard, she kicks him out.
During more of the rising action, Chris claims that he wishes he could call his classmates "Stupid", but he knows the proper term is "Special Needs". He states that "Special Needs" makes no sense to him, since everyone in the world has "Special Needs" such as wanting a certain temperature of water, or how they eat. He makes a short reference to people making rude remarks to him when he gets off of his bus every day, which the reader can infer is a short bus.
When Christopher goes to his dad and tells him what he thinks of who may have killed Wellington and why, his Father breaks out in anger and slams his hand down on the table. He describes Mr. Shears as EVIL, and to never bring his name up again. Christopher, not knowing why, has to obey his Father. Although, not bringing up his name to FATHER does not mean he cannot ask others about the situation. He asks his neighbor Mrs. Alexander, who in turn tells him because she feels awful for him. She makes Christopher promise to not say anything, and then reluctantly informs him that his Mother and Mr. Shears had an affair. When he tells his teacher Siobhan, she wants to make sure he is okay, and he says that he is because Mother is not alive so it is all irrelevant now.
