What does the governing body do? Appoint a committee.

From American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America by Edmund S. Morgan. Page 119.

The Salem episode actually began in much the same way as the Goodwin case in Boston. Perhaps Mather’s pamphlet caused discussion of witchcraft and was a cause in that way, but there is no direct connection. Early in 1692 a group of girls between the ages of nine and nineteen began to have symptoms resembling those of the Goodwin children. They accused Tituba, a Caribbean Indian slave woman in the family of the local minister, of having bewitched them. The slave was beaten into a confession and accused two old women of being her confederates. These in turn confessed and accused others, apparently in hope of gaining lenient treatment. The circle widened rapidly; and by the time the new governor, Sir William Phips, arrived in Boston with his commission under the new charter, there were several dozen persons awaiting trial. The provisional government had hesitated to try the cases, because it was uncertain of its authority. Now Phips appointed a special commission of oyer and terminer, composed of eminent former magistrates, among them Samuel Sewall, the diarist, and headed by William Stoughton, who proved to be a veritable caricature of the unbending, self-righteous Puritan.

So there is a popular panic about a feared and ill-understood belief regarding witchcraft during a time of social erosion and uncertainty.

What does the governing body do? Appoint a committee.