Priestley's classic morality play of the prosperous, middle-class Birling family in the North Midland industrial town of Brumley in 1912. The family is visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole, who questions the family about the suicide of a working-class woman in her mid-twenties. Each member of the family encountered this woman, treated her badly, and confess their actions. After the Inspector leaves, suspicions arise and Birling telephones his friend, the chief constable, who confirms that there is no Inspector Goole on the force. As the family conclude they have been the victims of a hoax, a phone call from the police informs them that a young woman has just died on her way to the infirmary in a suspected suicide, and that a policeman is on his way to question the family.