Today in Salem: The beggar Sarah Good is hunched in front of the judges, distracted, humming and crossing her her arms in front of her as if she’s still carrying the baby she lost just last month.
With guidance from the ministers, the judges have agreed to consider only three types of evidence:
1 – Those who’ve been afflicted by Sarah’s specter in the invisible world
2 – People who’ve seen her commit real-life evil in the physical, visible world
3 – Those who’ve confessed to witchcraft themselves and have accused her in turn
First, the afflicted girls. Immediately one of the girls screams that Sarah’s specter has just stabbed her with a knife. Not only that, but the attack was so violent that the blade has broken. Sobbing, the girl pulls a sliver of metal from her dress.
“Wait!” a young man in the gallery shouts. He’d broken his knife just yesterday, he says, and thrown it away in front of the girl. He reaches into his waistcoat and pulls out a knife with a broken blade.
A judge takes the broken knife and the sliver of metal and puts them together. They fit exactly. But after some consideration, the judges decide it doesn’t matter. Specters can use physical objects to hurt someone. Sarah’s specter could easily have picked up the fragment. They warn the young man to be truthful, and let the afflicted girl continue.
Now it’s time to hear from the second group of people: those who’ve witnessed Sarah’s evil acts in the real world. Not her specter – but Sarah herself.
A parade of people blames Sarah for their dead cattle. Her angry former landlords, who’d evicted her family for noise and fighting. A neighbor woman who’d refused to let Sarah take even one step into her house, suspicious that she might be carrying smallpox. A man who’d refused to rent to Sarah’s family, and forced them off his property.
Finally, the third group — witches who’ve confessed — testifies that they’ve seen her at spectral gatherings with other witches, and she’d muted them so they couldn’t confess fully. Most damning is Tituba’s detailed and signed confession. She’d seen Sarah Good’s name in the Devil’s Book, she said, and ridden on a pole with her. And yes, her own specter had hurt the afflicted girls, but Sarah Good had made her do it.
With evidence from all three groups, the judges are unanimous. Sarah Good is found guilty and condemned to hang.
Tomorrow in Salem: TRIED AND SENTENCED: the rebellious Susannah Martin and the beloved Rebecca Nurse