A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity; until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
Abe/Adam Brody already had a flair for solving cases/mysteries as a preteen kid detective. He dealt with thefts etc. which sometimes got him into trouble with the culprits. His friend/secretary Gracie disappeared when she was 14. Even as an adult he's doing kid's cases such as simple thefts, lies, finding cats etc. At 32, he shares an apartment but has his own office and secretary. But then one day, there's a high school girl, Caroline/Sophie Nélisse, in his office with a real case. He found her stolen silver bracelet in an hour years ago. Now she needs his help to find out who stabbed her boyfriend Patrick Chang, an honor student, 17 times. The police aren't getting anywhere. The case takes him around town with Caroline driving. Abe's parents worry about him as it's his first murder/real case.—Scott Filtenborg
In the town of Willow Brook, Abe Applebaum was once the neighbourhood detective at a mere 12. Working out of a treehouse for quarters, he was very well-recognized by the city. If you needed to find out why you'd hadn't been getting mail for weeks, or where your dog went, he was there with his exceptional mind. However, when the 14-year-old Gracie Gulliver was kidnapped, the whole town was counting on Abe. He was lost and the case was never closed, and the town lost their trust. Around 20 years later, Abe is unfulfilled. The town resents him, and his regrets plague his mind. But when the late-teenage Caroline brings him a case to find out who killed her boyfriend, It may open up Abe's past.. and present.—gavin-25038
As a child, Abe Applebaum was a local celebrity as a "kid detective," solving minor mysteries and crimes for the residents of the town of Willowbrook. When he was twelve, his close friend, Gracie Gulliver, disappeared. Despite his investigation, neither he nor the police were able to find her, leaving him traumatized.
Now 32, Abe continues to operate his detective agency, despite the concern from his family and derision from his peers for his failure to "grow up." Depressed over his struggling business and the complete lack of respect he is given, he abuses alcohol and drugs to cope. An orphaned high school student named Caroline approaches him for help investigating the murder of her boyfriend, Patrick Chang. Despite never having investigated a murder case before, Abe sees this as a chance to prove himself and agrees to take the case for free.
Their investigation leads to the discovery of several secrets that Patrick had kept from Caroline, such as his involvement in drug dealing and his affair with an older girl named Melody. They also learn that his friend Calvin is in love with Caroline, and resented their relationship. However, Abe's clumsy style of work also leads to several mishaps, such as angering Patrick's father and being arrested for sneaking into Calvin's house. He eventually reaches a breakthrough when he realizes that a series of origami roses given to Caroline were not from Patrick, as she assumed, and are identical to ones that were received by Gracie shortly before her disappearance. When he also learns that the person he implicated in the theft of school fundraiser money as a child was actually innocent, he is able to deduce the identity of both Gracie's kidnapper and Patrick's killer as being high school principal Erwin.
Abe confronts Principal Erwin at his home and reveals what he has learned. Erwin had become obsessed with Gracie and plotted to kidnap her. The theft of the school fundraiser money had been a test to see if Abe really was as good of a detective as people thought, and when he failed to solve the case correctly, Erwin felt confident in carrying out his plan. Caroline is, in fact, the product of Erwin's rape of Gracie and had secretly been left at a church by Erwin after her birth. When he found a lewd picture of Melody in Patrick's locker, he mistook it for Caroline and killed Patrick in revenge for "ruining" her. With his crimes revealed, and confronted by the fact that he murdered Patrick over a mistake, Erwin kills himself in front of Abe. Abe subsequently discovers Gracie, still alive, locked in a shed in Erwin's yard.
Abe is hailed as a hero for solving the case and rescuing Gracie, restoring his respect in town and greatly boosting his agency's business. However, he is haunted by the recent events, and when his parents come to check on him, he breaks down sobbing as the movie ends.
(copied from Wikipedia)
