A detective from Pasadena, California, Virgil Tibbs passes through Wells, South Carolina, on his way to visit his mother, but his plans are interrupted by Enrico’s murder. He becomes the first suspect in the murder case, his arrest serving as an early inciting incident in the opening chapters. Quickly, Virgil experiences a stark difference in how he’s treated as a Black man in the South compared to the West Coast. Wells cops question Virgil’s police credentials, don’t offer him food, and disrespect his professional experience. Later, he has difficulty finding a place to stay, renting a car, and ordering food, because white-owned establishments refuse to serve him. Virgil handles the city’s discrimination with poise. However, despite his outward calm, Wells grows angrier the longer he stays—the color of his skin and the affront the white authority figures in town feel at seeing a Black detective matter more than his personal behavior. Virgil’s perspective gives the reader a glimpse at the pervasive racism of the South.

Virgil’s urbane worldliness contrasts the narrow-minded provincialism of Wells. Unlike the police officers in Wells, Virgil is not only good at his job, but he has trained in investigative and interrogation techniques.