The narrator decides to see Hambro that night, but on the way to visit with his Communist instructor Ras the Exhorter is rallying to call the people together to act out against the senseless death of Tod Clifton. Ras calls out the narrator in front of the crowd and asks what the Brotherhood is going to do about Clifton's shooting. The narrator avoids the question and leaves as quickly as he can, but Ras' henchmen follow him. In front of a movie theatre the men start beating the narrator up, but the doorman of the theatre stops them. The narrator buys dark glasses and a hat to disguise himself from Ras' goons. In the new get-up people begin to mistake him for some man named Rineheart. Intrigued by several encounters with people who mistake him for this man, he sets out to discover Rineheart's identity and learns that he is a bookie, a gambler, a lover, and a preacher. He is a con-artist; he fools the people of Harlem the same way that the Brotherhood does.
The narrator sees Hambro and learns that the Brotherhood is sacrificing the people of Harlem's needs in order to pursue the greater good of the organization. The young man is surprised and disappointed, but he begins to want revenge against those who want to sacrifice him and the people who trusted him. He sees that his grandfather and Dr. Bledsoe were right. The narrator learns that the black man is invisible and the only thing that he's wanted or needed for is to say "yassuh." Chapter 23, pg. 509 He decides to unravel the Brotherhood and realizes that to get inside information on the committee's plans he'll need to get close to some of their women.