Chapter FIFTEEN
Parrish followed us the couple of blocks to my house. I called J.D. on the way and told her that the U.S. attorney was at my house and would like to talk to her and see her files from Miami.
J.D. arrived about ten minutes after us, and I introduced her to David.
“Nice to meet you, David,” she said and pulled a flash drive from her pocket. “Can we use your computer, Matt?”
She plugged in the drive and brought up the file. “I’ve culled this a great deal. I’ve made hundreds of arrests over the years and most of them ended up in convictions. Not all of the perps went to prison. Some were sentenced to probation or county jail time. Of the ones who went to prison, most are still locked up, and some died. Any one of those still in prison could theoretically be running the show from there, so I’ve tried to eliminate the ones that didn’t commit violent crimes, the burglars, embezzlers, scam artists, and the like. Some of the ones I put away toward the end of my career with Miami-Dade would have been too young twelve years ago to have been involved in the original murders. And I got rid of anybody who was in jail at the time of the murders in Miami.”
“How many did you end up with?” I asked.
“Ten, but none of them seem to have any connection to the murders in Miami. Or at least I can’t find any. I’m going to have my old partner take a look at them and see if he can come up with anything. David, maybe some of these guys will ring a bell with you.”
We scrolled carefully through the file. There was a synopsis of each of the men, giving his personal information, the crime for which he was convicted, the date of the crime, how much time he served, and in which of the 144 Florida prison facilities he had been incarcerated. Several had spent time in more than one institution.
“Each of these ten guys did some of their sentences at Glades Correctional, which is where Qualman served his entire sentence,” said J.D., “and they were there for at least part of the time that Qualman was. They may have known each other. I’ve got the warden down there scratching through records to see if he turns up anything. Like, were any of them cellmates with Qualman. I’m looking for any connection, no matter how tenuous.”
“How about somebody that you put away who has been released?” I asked. “Wouldn’t someone like that be a pretty good suspect?”
“I’ve tried to factor that in. I ignored the ones who were released before Qualman got to prison, but he may have met somebody when he got out or knew them before he went in. I have no way of knowing that. This is just a process of elimination, and I want to rule out these ten before I start beating my head against the wall trying to tie a bunch of old cons to Qualman.”
“I can get you a list of the people Qualman dealt with in the drug business,” said David. “You might turn up a name there, somebody you arrested who also knew our boy before he knocked over the convenience store. It’s a pretty long shot.”
“Thanks,” said J.D. “Let me dig through this pile first. I’ll be in touch if none of this works out. I don’t guess you see anybody in this group who jumps out at you.”
“No. Sorry,” he said.
“Do you guys have any thoughts?” J.D. asked.
We all shook our heads just as the front door opened and Logan Hamilton walked in.