'The Kid Detective' ending explained; Know who killed Patrick and Why?

The Kid Detective is a Canadian mystery comedy-drama film starring Adam Brody, Sophie Nélisse, Wendy Crewson, Sarah Sutherland, and Tzi Ma. Written and directed by Evan Morgan, the movie has earned mostly positive reviews from the viewers. The final act answered multiple questions, but also raised a few. Spoiler Alert! as below is The Kid Detective ending explained.

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The Kid Detective ending explained

The movie has Detective Abraham “Abe” Applebaum solving trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. One day, a naïve client, Caroline brings him his first-ever adult case; to find out who brutally killed her boyfriend, Patrick Chang. The seventeen-year-old high school student is unconvinced that the local police have thoroughly investigated the crime. Abe accepts the case to prove himself. The story initially has humour from the washed-out investigator but takes surprisingly dark turns as it moves forward.

The ending of The Kid Detective reveals Abe finding the murderer who is none other than Principal Erwin, played by Peter MacNeill. Besides his search, Abe reaches the conclusion with two seemingly unrelated moments. The first has the titular investigator learning that he had been accusing the wrong person of a crime. In the past, Abe had claimed that it was his fellow classmate, Rory Beans, who stole the school’s fundraiser money. But it is revealed that Beans was innocent all along. The second instance happens when Abe looks over the origami-shaped paper roses, which Caroline regularly finds in her locker. She assumed that they were a gesture of affection from Patrick, but she continues to receive them time and again following her boyfriend’s death. Abe recalls that the roses have a striking resemblance to an item from an unsolved kidnapping of Gracie (Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato) that took place decades ago.

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Abe remembers that Gracie used to get origami roses sometimes and confirms the fact with her mother. After gaining the information, he breaks into Erwin’s house to get his confrontation. Abe was shaking and stuttering as he explains how his longtime friend is the one who committed both the crimes. Erwin had access to all the locker codes at his school and was the one sending roses to the girls. He set the whole thing up to test whether Abe was really the expert detective that everyone believed him to be.

Erwin accepts his crime in front of Abe as he has put all the pieces together. The ending of The Kid Detective has the principal revealing that he has no remorse for kidnapping Gracie, showing his extent of depravity. He killed Patrick as he incorrectly believed that the young boy was taking nude photos of Caroline and leaving them in his locker. The reason why Erwin had a personal interest in Caroline is that she is the daughter he fathered and left the newborn on the steps of a church. As he could not live with the consequences of his scandal, Erwin stabs himself. The Kid Detective ending explained why Abe cried. It is believed to be because of the nature of the case. He did not expect his close friend to be the murderer, and the case being connected to his past, which he so dearly misses. 

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