The Boy
Unnamed and helpless, the three-year-old boy is the central thread of the story. After his mom immigrates to Denmark without paperwork, he is kidnapped by human traffickers. He's stripped and drugged and stuffed in a suitcase in a train station locker, only to be rescued by the wrong person. The boy's name is unknown, and he doesn't speak Danish.
Nina Borg
Wife and mother of two, Nina is the protagonist. She's a passionate activist for human rights and works for the Red Cross in Copenhagen. To her, helping undocumented families get on their feet and protecting them from legal problems is the most rewarding thing she can ever do. She devotes herself to helping these people. When she stumbles upon the boy in the locker, she instantly decides that she is the only one who can fix this. She doesn't trust the authorities because of her interactions with them over immigration battles. Fiercely independent, she chooses to keep her husband in the dark and set out to help the boy alone.
Sigita
She is the boy's Lithuanian mother. Single and afraid, she decides to take her son to Denmark and hope for a better life. While playing in a park one day, he is kidnapped. She spends the rest of the book desperately searching for her lost child.
Karin
Karin is an old friend of Nina's who works for Jan. She's a type of personal assistant. Aware that her employer possesses vast, unexplained wealth, she's suspicious of him. When he asks her to pick up a suitcase from a locker at the train station and replace it with a bunch of cash, she freaks and doesn't go. She returns home and hides out for a while.
Jan Marquat
He's a wealthy businessman known for engaging in some shady deals. His mentally unstable wife and he have one young son. When the boy gets sick and dies, Jan's wife loses her mind. He loves both of them, but he isn't prepared to help her work through the difficult process of grief considering her delicate natural state. Out of desperation he pays someone to sell him a little boy to replace his own dead son.
Jucas
When Karin fails, Jan hires Jucas to fetch the boy from the locker. Jucas is engaged to Barbara, and they are anticipating getting married. They just need some cash to get them started, so he accepts the job. He becomes fearful and irritated when he arrives and the boy is already gone, and he sets out to find Nina and deliver the boy to Jan as promised. Unburdened by the nerves and scruples of the rest of the character, Jucas stops at nothing -- even murder -- to accomplish his goal.
