This act comprises the falling action and the catastrophe of the play. The tone is grim, and the anticipation mounts as everyone awaits the verdict of the trial. Hornbeck provides comic relief as he gives a commentary on his interpretation of the action. He asks if the jury is out "swatting flies and wrestling with justice — in that order." And then he sarcastically remarks that he will "hate to see the jury filing in" because he will "miss Hillsboro."
Using a metaphor,, Lawrence and Lee speak through Drummond to describe the necessity of seeking truth. Drummond comments that when the people of Tennessee "started this fire" (passed the Butler Law), they never thought it would "light up the whole sky" (create national attention). "People's shoes are getting hot," (they are getting nervous) because the trial has stirred things up, and they're not sure of the outcome. In a monologue, Drummond tells Cates an anecdote about a rocking horse named Golden Dancer that he received as a child. Outside the horse was beautiful, but inside, the wood was rotten. The moral of the story, Drummond says, is, if you discover a lie, " . . . show it up for what it really is." The story of Golden Dancer is analogous both to the creation story as a literal interpretation of events and to the Butler Law. Both, when unexamined, appear unflawed. ,
The courtroom is "charged with excitement" as the jury returns. Cates is found guilty. The reaction of the spectators is unexpectedly mixed; some clap, some say "Amen," and some boo. Again, Hornbeck provides comic relief as he mocks the verdict by pretending to sell tickets for the Middle Ages and the coronation of Charlemagne.
