As the trial gets underway, the only person who shows up in the courtroom to support the twins is their landlady, Aunt Patsy; the rest of the townspeople, including Roxy, believe that Luigi killed Judge Driscoll with Angelo's help, and hate the twins for it.

Pembroke Howard, the attorney for the state, argues that Luigi's motive for killing Judge Driscoll was to avoid the second duel. In Luigi's defense, Pudd'nhead Wilson tells the jury that he will provide testimony from the three women who saw a girl fleeing Judge Driscoll's house at the time of the murder.

Tom's hubris, his excessive self-confidence, leads him to visit Wilson, planning to shame him for his inability to find the girl who was seen leaving the Judge's house. At Wilson's house, Tom picks up the slide with Roxy's fingerprints on it, causing a realization to dawn on Wilson. As soon as Tom leaves, Wilson examines the print Tom has just left on the slide, and compares them to the prints he has taken from Tom over the years. To his astonishment, Wilson realizes that the prints taken from the adult Tom do not match the prints taken from Tom as a baby.