Chapter 7

Abigail sat at the top of the steps very quietly, and listened to her parents argue.

It was not something that happened very often, and Abigail felt guilty about the fact that it was happening now,

as the entire subject of the disagreement was her detective agency? Except it wasn't

really a disagreement. That suggested that her parents had two different points of view, which were

in opposition to one another, and that was not the case. That's really what an argument was

supposed to be, when two or more people try very hard to convince one another

that their point of view is the correct one. This meant in a proper argument between her mother

and her father, there ought to be only two points of view. Abigail felt that was logical.

Except that wasn't what her parents were doing at all. They seemed to change their points of view at random,

and occasionally they found themselves agreeing with one another in loud voices, though they did not

seem to really notice when that happened. It was all very confusing, especially since Abigail

was too upset to listen properly. Abigail had been late for dinner, and worse than that, she had left the sign for the detective

agency in the driveway. It had seemed like it would be good for business, like the detective

with a waiting room her father had talked about, except she had meant to put it away before her

mother got home. But when her mother had pulled

up, it had been right there, in her face, just like Abigail was not supposed to do. Her mother

had been entirely ready to explode when she walked in the door, and then had not quite known

what to do or say when she found out where Abigail had

been. Sign or no sign? Abigail had gone for a walk, and she had gone to the library, and she had

met some new kids, and she'd had a lot of fresh air and sunshine. Abigail's mother seemed

very pleased with that. But Abigail described the entire activity as

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