The setting for all three works - the play, short story and the film - is the same: a gloomy farmhouse kitchen. John Wright, recently strangled, and his wife Minnie, who claims innocence and is in prison for the crime, are never seen. Five people travel to the Wright farmhouse to investigatethe sheriff, Mr. Peters, the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Hale a neighboring farmer, Mrs. Peters, the prosecuting attorneys wife who has come specifically to gather clothing for the accused woman and Mrs. Hale, the farmers wife. Throughout the short story you never hear the voice of Mrs. Wright. You only hear her words through the account of the conversation Mr. Hale has with Mrs. Wright when he comes to her house to speak with her husband John. He came to the farmhouse to ask John if he would like to have a telephone installed in his house.