What Happened to the Bird?
When gathering up the quilting material, they discover a fancy little box. Inside, wrapped in silk is a dead canary. Its neck has been wrung. The implication is that Minnie’s husband did not like the canary’s beautiful song (a symbol of his wife’s desire for freedom and happiness). So, Mr. Wright busted the cage door and strangled the bird.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not tell the men about their discovery. Instead, Mrs. Hale puts the box with the deceased bird into her coat pocket – resolving not to tell the men about this little “trifle” they have uncovered.
The play ends with the characters exiting the kitchen and the women announcing that they have determined Mrs. Wright’s quilt making style. (She “knots it” instead of “quilts it” – a play with words denoting the way in which she killed her husband.)