of the denouement, however, possessed in its time great novelty, for fingerprinting had not then come into official use in crime detection in the United States. Even a man who fooled around with it as a hobby was thought to be a simpleton, a 'pudd'nhead'." Characters Roxy Roxana is a slave, originally owned by Percy Driscoll and freed upon his death. Roxy is black, or 15/16 white. With a fair complexion, brown eyes, and straight brown hair, she looks more white than black, which makes sense based on her ancestry. As she was born into slavery, she is still considered a slave and is associated with blacks. She identifies as black, and speaks the dialect of slaves in the antebellum Deep South. She is the mother of Valet de Chambre and acts as nanny to Thomas Driscoll. Due to her son's overwhelming percentage of European ancestry and appearance, she switches him with Driscoll's son when the boys are infants, hoping to guarantee Chambers freedom and an upper-class upbringing. Tom Driscoll, who becomes Chambers Thomas à Becket Driscoll is the son of Percy Driscoll. Tom is switched with Roxy's baby Chambers when he is a few months old, and is called "Chambers" from then on. Raised as a slave, Chambers is purchased by his uncle Judge Driscoll after his brother Percy dies. The judge is childless and sad, and wants to prevent the young man Tom Driscoll from selling Chambers downriver. Chambers is portrayed as a decent young man whom Tom forces to fight bullies. He is kind and always respectful towards Tom but receives brutal treatment by his master. He shares diction with other slaves. Chambers, who becomes Tom Driscoll Valet de Chambre is Roxy's son. Chambers is black, and as Roxy's son, was born into slavery. At a young age, he is switched by his mother with Thomas à Becket Driscoll, a white child of similar age born into an aristocratic family in the small town. From then on he is known as "Tom", and is raised as the white heir to a large estate. Tom is spoiled, cruel and wicked. In his early years he has an intense hate for Chambers although the other boy protected Tom and saved his life on numerous occasions. Tom attends Yale University for two years and returns to Dawson's Landing with "Eastern polish" which results in the locals disliking him more. Tom