In what way are the women of La Matosa depicted as the voices of reason when it comes to the contents of the late Witch's house?

It is significant that the women of La Matosa profess to know exactly what had been in the Witch's house all along. According to the narrator of Chapter VII, the women in town say that rather than containing diamonds, gold, or silver, the Witch's house had only ever contained "searing pain" (196).