Minnie Foster Wright was the central character the story focused on. She was a happy and colorful woman, but she had married Mr. Wright who was frugal and a hard man. He lived in an unpleasant house, in a valley where you couldn't see the road and without communications with the outside, such as the telephone. She had no children and all her friends were scared of her unpleasant and harsh husband. It had crushed his spirit and killed the only thing he loved, his pet bird. Minnie does not speak in this story but is described by her friends and the men investigating her husband's murder. Mr Hale said she told him John Wright had died but he didn't know who did it because he was a heavy sleeper. He talked very casually about his death and how he died from a rope around his neck as he kept bending it