The Shocking Truth and Twist Ending
The final piece of the puzzle is the most disturbing. Eric Birling admits he got Eva pregnant after meeting her during a drunken night out. His confession reveals he'd pressured her into sleeping with him and later stole money from his father's business to help support her. Eva refused the money once she discovered it was stolen, leaving her completely desperate.
After the Inspector delivers a powerful speech about social responsibility and leaves, the family makes a stunning discovery. There's no Inspector Goole on the police force, and no record of any girl dying from disinfectant at the local infirmary. Gerald suggests they might have been talking about different girls entirely - that the whole evening was an elaborate trick.
While Mr and Mrs Birling celebrate their apparent escape from scandal, Eric and Sheila understand the real point: it doesn't matter whether the Inspector was real or not. Their actions were still wrong, and they still caused harm to vulnerable people.
The play ends with a brilliant twist - just as Mr Birling is mocking the Inspector, the phone rings. A girl really has just died from drinking disinfectant, and a real police inspector is on their way to investigate.
The message: Whether the first Inspector was supernatural, a hoaxer, or something else entirely, the family's guilt remains real - and now they'll face the consequences all over again.