After the wedding, the Vicario brothers are captured and brought before a court. Their lawyer argues that the murder was a legitimate defence of honour, and the court upholds this defence, allowing the twins to be released. In a dramatic surrender, they burst into Father Amador’s parish house, place blood‑stained knives on his desk, and proclaim their innocence before God. The narrative then retraces their frantic preparations: they first search for Santiago at Maria Alejandrina Cervantes’s house, then wait at Clotilde Armenta’s shop, where they purchase a bottle of cane liquor and receive a second bottle despite the shop’s early opening. At three‑twenty they appear at the meat market, where butcher Faustino Santos watches them sharpen two knives—one ten inches long for quartering, the other shorter—for the planned killing. Their drunken, boastful behaviour convinces most townspeople that they are joking. Officer Leandro Pornoy, who arrives to buy milk for the mayor, overhears their plans but does little. Colonel Don Lázaro Aponte, awakened early, learns of the brothers’ intent from the officer and, after being warned by three informants, confronts the twins in Clotilde’s shop, confiscates their knives, and sends them away, believing a warning to Santiago is enough. The twins later retrieve two new knives wrapped in newspaper from Prudencia Cotes’s home, where Prudencia, Vicario’s fiancée, assists them. They return to Armenta’s shop, drink more rum, and finally leave for the pigsty gate with their weapons. On the way, they pass Hortensia Baute, who weeps, mistaking the glint of knives for fresh blood. At the dock, the bishop’s procession begins; the twins cross the square, see Father Amador and the acolyte, and silently cross themselves. Santiago, unaware of the threat, sleeps in his house after a brief walk with Cristo Bedoya and a farewell from Victoria Guzman. At five‑thirty, Victoria awakens him, but he remains oblivious. The murder is finally carried out as the brothers stab Santiago with the knives they had sharpened, an act witnessed in fragmented recollections by Clotilde, the butchers, and other townspeople, confirming the fatal fulfilment of the Vicario vow.