which would be instrumental in solving the crime. So, they leave the women there and go upstairs to the bedroom where Mr. Wright was killed and search for evidence. While the two women wait in the kitchen, the neighbor of the wife accused woman, Mrs. Hale, talks to the sheriff's wife, relating how the former Minnie Foster was in the choir at church and loved music and being around other people, but here on the farm she has been isolated for years without even a phone. Further Mrs. Hale realizes by noting the dirty towel, and other details of the kitchen that Mrs. Wright was probably depressed and no longer interested in cleaning and such. Then, the women notice a quilt that Mrs. Wright had been working on that has some erratic stitching in sharp contrast to the neat stitches that are prevalent throughout the rest of the quilt. Finally, Mrs. Hale opens a cupboard and discovers a fancy box that contains a dead canary with its neck wrung. The two women look at each other with immediate comprehension of why Mr. Wright was strangled. These trifles of the erratic stitching (She may have been quilting when she heard the commotion upstairs as he husband opened the bird cage and strangled the canary) and the dead bird found in the insignificant room of the kitchen are clearly motives. But, the women hide this evidence from the men when they come downstairs because of their sympathy for Mrs. Wright and partly because the men have insulted them, thus profoundly affecting the outcome of the sheriff's investigation.