As far as I can tell, the leap went: pressing was only used in Salem, other research determines that this body is a) 300 years old (which is a relatively trivial test result if you've got their lab) and b) has the appropriate isotopes for Salem (which is a less trivial test, but they've used that one before, and it does exist).
The thing is, the *only* pressing death in the colonies that's documented was Giles Corey. So, of course, if you see that, you think Salem. Except that, historically, the only pressing death was Giles Corey, not some woman in her late 40s with weakened bones. Which is why I wish they'd gone somewhere else with that in the first place.
And in terms of distance - Salem (or Boston) down the eastern seaboard is a drive, but it's not an impossible one: maybe 8-10 hours, depending on traffic. People do it for long weekend trips, a fair number of people do that stretch for a week's visit at an office in NYC or DC. I consider that the least implausible bit of the episode in a lot of ways.
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The thing is, the *only* pressing death in the colonies that's documented was Giles Corey. So, of course, if you see that, you think Salem. Except that, historically, the only pressing death was Giles Corey, not some woman in her late 40s with weakened bones. Which is why I wish they'd gone somewhere else with that in the first place.
And in terms of distance - Salem (or Boston) down the eastern seaboard is a drive, but it's not an impossible one: maybe 8-10 hours, depending on traffic. People do it for long weekend trips, a fair number of people do that stretch for a week's visit at an office in NYC or DC. I consider that the least implausible bit of the episode in a lot of ways.