Act 3, Scene 1, Part 2 Summary

Musgrave reveals that the bones belong to a native of the town, Billy Hicks. The colliers and Bargee refuse to believe it. Mrs. Hitchcock says that Annie has a right to know, and Musgrave lets Mrs. Hitchcock go to fetch Annie. He then says that he sees the hand of God in every human experience, explaining that Billy was killed because it had been "decided." He then says that Hicks' death made it clear that the subversives in the town were ready to kill soldiers, so more soldiers were brought in to keep the people in order. Because of that, more soldiers would be killed, which meant that more civilians would be killed, and the cycle would go on until someone saw it for what it was and acted to end it.

Walsh tries to get Musgrave to let...