It is 1956, in Natchez, Mississippi. Slim and his crew, Hank and Jodie, are negotiating with Lester, a fence, trying to sell the gold they stole in a mining robbery. The deal goes south, and under duress Lester discloses that the only other person capable of fencing the gold is Easy Money in Harlem, New York. The Sheriff shows up, and in the confusion Imabelle, Slim's gun moll, drives off with the gold in a trunk, and travels to New York City.
In Harlem, Jackson is a devout and naive young man, working as a bookkeeper for H. Exodus Clay at his funeral parlor. His estranged step brother, Goldy, is a small-time hoodlum and also impersonates a priest in order to sell fake "tickets to heaven." Jackson has scraped together $1,500.
[Imabelle] arrives with her trunk, but has no money. She attends the Undertaker's Ball, looking for support, and meets Jackson. She seduces him, and moves into his apartment.
Slim and crew travel to Harlem, and enlist Imabelle to help them take Jackson's money, using The Blow, a scam whereby money is seemingly changed to a higher denomination by baking it in an oven. They claim they can turn Jackson's $1,500 into $15,000, but he is reluctant at first. During the scam, the oven explodes and Slim bursts into the room, impersonating a United States Marshall.
Jackson bribes Slim with $200, but must steal the money from Mr. Clay since his money is now gone. Jackson learns that Slim has "arrested" Imabelle and taken her away, so he approaches Goldy to help find her, due to his knowledge of Harlem's criminal underworld. Goldy agrees, but insists that he retains the gold. Goldy learns the crew is using the gold to run a fake gold mine scam, and gives Jackson a fake bank roll to lure Gus Parsons, the crew's contact man. Jackson and Gus travel to the crew's headquarters, with Goldy and Big Kathy following. Goldy overpowers Gus, then he and Big Kathy enter the apartment posing as the police. Jackson runs up to the apartment, followed closely by uniformed police and the two detectives. In the ensuing melee, Gus is shot and a police officer has acid thrown in his face. The crew escapes with Imabelle in tow, and retreat to Slim's office. Jackson, Goldy and Big Kathy acquire the hearse from Mr. Clay's funeral parlor, in order to transport the gold. The crew departs again, leaving Imabelle with the gold. They drive by as Imabelle goes down stairs, and abduct her. They stop when they see the gold, which has been transferred to the hearse, and Slim kills Big Kathy when he intervenes. Goldy leaves with Imabelle, intending to avenge his death.
Slim and crew meet with Easy Money to enact the sale of the gold, but Slim calls off the deal out of annoyance with him. There is a shoot out where Hank and Josie are killed. When Goldy bursts in, he is shot and Easy Money is mortally wounded. Slim escapes with Imabelle, and Jackson arrives to confront him. They tussle, but as Slim prepares to slit Jackson's throat it is Imabelle who shoots Slim dead. While Grave Digger and Coffin Ed apprehend Jackson for his initial theft of Mr. Clay's money, Imabelle leaves with the money from the deal, heading back to Mississippi. Mr. Clay makes bail for Jackson because he appreciates the business Jackson has drummed up for him; the money found on Slim's thugs will go towards their funerals, to be performed by Mr. Clay. Jackson hurries to the train station, where Imabelle has left $50,000 for Goldy and a similar sum for Jackson, along with a note telling him that he is too good for her. Jackson and Imabelle reunite, and depart for Mississippi together.
