Gunshots are heard in the streets, signaling that the subversives’ attack has begun. Ibarra rushes home to burn all his papers and anything else that could incriminate him. As he is about to burn everything, he is arrested by guards and escorted away. Elías returns to Ibarra’s house and completes the task of setting everything on fire.

The day after the attack, gossip runs wild throughout the town. Ibarra and Don Filipo are detained in prison. Bruno has confessed, and his testimony is an indictment against Ibarra. Elías finds Lucas hanged in a tree. He notices seeds on Lucas’s clothing and when he goes to the church, he notices the same seeds on a sexton—implying a connection.

Bruno’s brother, Társilo, is interrogated and tortured. Társilo is expected to provide more evidence against Ibarra, but he refuses to change his story that his only motivation was to avenge his father’s death. He is eventually killed by drowning—but not before insulting the ensign and his wife, Doña Consolación.