Grave Digger Jones - ace black detective in Harlem working with Coffin Ed to find out who the hijackers were and get back the people's money.
Coffin Ed Johnson - ace black detective in Harlem working with Grave Digger to find out who the hijackers were and get back the people's money as well. His face is scarred by thrown acid, giving him an explosive bad temper that causes him to need time to calm down.
Reverend Deke O'Malley - charismatic black leader and former convict, real name Deke O'Hara; uses religion as a disguise to swindle poor African-Americans out of their money for a Back-to-Africa movement.
Iris - main squeeze to Deke, strong and cunning woman, was in love with Deke, easily made angry and jealous, she has a short temper, and can be considered the novel’s femme fatale .
Uncle Bud - homeless black man who find the bale of cotton the $87,000 was hidden in from the heist, and ultimately flees the country with it.
Mabel Hill - attractive wife of one of O'Malley's henchmen who is killed in Back-to-Africa rally; used by O'Malley for information, a place to stay, and sex, ultimately killed in jealous rage by Iris.
Josh Bryce - worker at the junkyard (Goodman’s) who tries to sell the bale of cotton to Col. Calhoun, ultimately killed when the Colonel believes he knows/saw too much.
Goodman - owner of the junkyard where uncle Bud originally sells the bale of cotton. Helps detectives with clues as to where the bale could have possibly ended up.
Lieutenant Anderson - in charge of the detective branch of the police precinct that Gravedigger and Coffin Ed work, who makes orders for most things that they do.
Colonel Calhoun - wealthy southern white man with many high-up connections, planned the hijacking to steal all the money, also sets up a Back-to-South movement in the middle of Harlem, causes a ruckus, tries to get bale of cotton back unsuccessfully.
Billie - mysterious friend of Iris, exotic dancer, ends up with the bale of cotton from Uncle Bud to use in her dance routine, sells the bale to Col. Calhoun for $1k.
Lo Boy - ordinary con-man who worked with Early Riser (a gangster) to do petty crimes; the main witness to the Hijacker vehicle crash.
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