“How come, Chief Willoughby?” is one of the three messages on the billboards in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. It is Mildred Hayes’s angry public challenge to the town’s police chief, Bill Willoughby, over the lack of progress in her daughter’s murder case.
Origin of the phrase
The phrase appears on the third of Mildred’s rented billboards, after “Raped While Dying” and “And Still No Arrests?”. Together, the three lines form a direct accusation that the police, led by Chief Willoughby, have failed in their duty.
What it means in the story
The wording “How come, Chief Willoughby?” is meant to shame and pressure the chief by naming him personally, turning private grief into a public confrontation. The tension is heightened because the town knows Willoughby has terminal pancreatic cancer, so Mildred’s attack seems especially harsh to many locals.
Role in the film’s themes
That billboard line encapsulates the film’s focus on anger, accountability, and unresolved injustice. It fuels conflict between Mildred, Willoughby, and Officer Dixon, driving much of the plot and the town’s divided reaction to the billboards.