In "A Jury of Her Peers," Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, accompanies her husband and the county attorney to the home of Mrs. Wright, who has been arrested the previous day on suspicion of murdering her husband. Along the way they stop to pick up Mr. Hale, who was the one who found the body, and his wife. Mrs. Peters wants another woman's company as she performs her task. Sheriff Peters explains to the county attorney why his wife came with him: "She was to take in some clothes for her, you know—and a few little things. We left in such a hurry yesterday." From the sheriff's actions and comments in the story, readers can infer that he would think that gathering the woman's belongings was beneath him; he would be involved in important matters, namely discovering clues to the murder, so he delegated the task to his wife.
Besides clothes, the specific thing Mrs. Wright had requested was an apron. The women think that's a strange request, but they locate the items she wanted, commenting on how shabby her clothes are. As they look for string to tie up the bundle, they find other clues about Mrs. Wright's state of mind, including the quilt she was making, the broken birdcage, and finally the dead bird. Although Mrs. Peters is there for the mundane purpose of gathering some of the jailed woman's things, she and Mrs. Hale end up finding the reason for Mrs. Wright's desperate action.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Why has Mrs. Peters come along to the Wrights's home?
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