Detective (24 page)

The announcement further stated
that by unanimous vote the
commission had named the deceased's
daughter, Cynthia Ernst, to complete
her father's term. A second
accompanying announcement reported
that Major Ernst had accepted the
appointment and would resign immedi-
ately from the Miami police force.

After completing her father's
term, Ms. Ernst would have to stand,
if she chose, for public reelection.
But as Detective Bernard Quinn said,
during a discussion within

DETECTIVE 195

Homicide on the subject, "Of course
she'll run. And how can she possibly
lose?"

Ainslie had mixed feelings about
Cynthia's status change. On the one
hand he was relieved that in terms of
police rank she would no longer have
authority over him, nor would he
report to her about the serial
killings. But on the other, instinct
told him that her influence in the
Police Department could conceivably
increase.

Ainslie knew better than to expect
quick results from the surveillance
program. By the beginning of the
third week, however, he was concerned
that the only progress if it could be
called that, he mused gloomily was
the elimination of suspects Carlos
Quinones, Alec Polite, and Earl
Robinson.

During the following week there was
some doubt about the viability of
Elroy Doil as a suspect. According to
Detectives Dan Zagaki and Luis
Linares, and confirming his FIVO
report, Doil was working regularly as
a free-lance truck driver; he
appeared increasingly unlikely to be
the serial killer. Zagaki had gone
further and recommended that Doil be
dropped as a suspect, but Ainslie had
disagreed.

Beyond that there were James
Calhoun and Edelberto Montoya, still
possibles but not yet probables, the
whole picture raising doubts among
the increasingly bored detec-
tives doubts that Ainslie silently
shared. Was the computerized search
for suspects, which originally seemed
an excellent idea, actually a
misguided waste of time? Eventually
he shared the thought with Lieutenant
Newbold, adding, "It's easy to give
up now, maybe too easy, which is why
I hate to do it. My inclination is to
go one more week, then, if there's
nothing conclusive, quit."

196 Arthur Halley

The lieutenant leaned back in his
office chair, tilting it
precariously, as he often did. "I've
been backing you, Malcolm, because
I trust your judgment and knew you'd
come to me with any problems. You
know I'll support you if you feel we
really should go on. But I'm getting
pressure from Robbery. They want
their guys back."

Ainslie had twice seen Lieutenant
Daniel Huerta, Robbery's commander,
in Newbold's office, and the reason
was easy to guess. It would be
Christmas soon a time when robberies
increased by as much as fifty
percent and the Robbery
Department's case load would be
building. In Homicide, too, where,
because of the surveillance program,
every detective was working heavy
overtime, there were similar
pressures.

Between them, Ainslie and Newbold
decided on a compromise. The third
week of surveillance would continue,
though because of the elimination of
three suspects, four detectives from
Robbery, including the two
sergeants, would be released. Then,
at the end of the third week,
Ainslie would decide whether or not
to go for a fourth, and whatever the
decision, Lieutenant Newbold would
support it. He told Ainslie, "Major
Yanes committed the extra troops to
us. If I have to, I'll beat down his
door and remind him."

Those arrangements, as agreed,
continued for two more days. Then an
event occurred that swept everything
else aside.

It began shortly before noon on
Thursday.

At Coral Way and 32nd Avenue,
outside a Barnett Bank branch, a
Wells Fargo armored truck pulled
into a parking lot alongside the
bank to make a cash delivery.
Moments later one of two security
guards inside the truck opened the
side door and was confronted by
three males one

DETECTIVE 197

black and two Hispanic, according to
witnesses all armed with automatic
weapons.

At that precise moment al Miami
Police patrol car rounded a corner
and directly faced the robbery
scene. The robbers saw the police
first and opened fire before the of-
ficers were even aware a crime was
taking place. One police officer
died instantly in the hail of
bullets; the second, his gun partly
drawn, was wounded as he attempted
to leave the car. The robbers shot
and killed the Wells Fargo security
guard and grabbed a bag of money he
was carrying. Then they rushed to
their own car and sped away. The
entire episode lasted less than a
minute.

As the robbers left, a bystander
named Tomas Ramirez a tall, athletic
young man, no more than twenty
rushed to the now-unconscious
policeman. Observing a portable
radio protruding from the wounded
officer's gun belt, Ramirez grabbed
it and pressed a button at the side.

In the police Communication Center
his first message was received and
logged.

"Hello, hello. This is Tom Ramirez.
Is anybody there?"

A woman dispatcher responded
calmly, "Yes, I am. Where did you
get the police radio? Is everything
all right?"

"No, my God, it isn't! There's been
a robbery and shooting here at the
bank. Two policemen are shot. Send
some help, please."

"Okay, sir. Do not push the button
at the side while I am talking.
Where are you? Please give me your
location.'' The dispatcher was
typing into a computer while she
talked, her report repeated on the
computer screens of six other
dispatchers in the communication
center.

"Uh, I'm at Coral Way and
Thirty-second Avenue, in the parking
lot of the Barnett Bank. One
policeman and

198 Arthur Halley

the guard look dead, I think the
other policeman's dying. Hurry,
please."

Other dispatchers, reading their
computer monitors, were already
summoning help.

The first dispatcher replied,
"Sir, we are on the way. Have the
suspects left?"

"Yes, they jumped into their car a
gray Buick Century. There were three
of them. They all had guns. They
really shot up the policemen. They
look dead."

"Okay, sir. Try to calm down. We
need your help."

Another dispatcher had turned
switches, opening the way for a
BOLO. It would reach all county and
state police and every other law
enforcement agency. The call was
preceded by a five-second loud
continuous tone, signaling its
importance and priority. The tone
and message following would override
all other transmissions everywhere.

"Attention all units. A
three-two-nine just occurred at
Coral Way and Thirty-second Avenue,
Barnett Bank. There are reports of
at least two officers down. Suspects
left the scene in a gray Buick
Century."

The number "three" in the message
indicated emergency; the "two-nine"
was a signal code for robbery.

From every part of the city,
police units began converging at
high speed on the Barnett Bank at
Coral Way. As a TV reporter
commented soon after, "When a cop
gets shot, everyone heads for the
scene. There are no holds barred.
All hell breaks loose."

By now another dispatcher had
summoned Fire-Rescue ambulances and
paramedics.

The first dispatcher: "Mr. Ramirez,
are you still there?"

"Yes. I can hear sirens. Thank God
they're coming."

"Sir, were you able to get any
description of the suspects?"

"I got the license. NZD six-two-one,
a Florida plate."

DETECTIVE 199

The dispatcher, quickly
transferring the information to her
computer, thought, This guy is one
good citizen!

Another dispatcher promptly sent a
second BOLO, again preceded by the
five-second priority tone, with the
license number of the suspects' car.

"Mr. Ramirez, did you see what the
suspects looked like?"

"I got a pretty good look. Yes, I
can describe them."

"That's excellent, sir. Please stay
there until a unit arrives, and give
them that information."

"They're all arriving now. Thank
God!"

Homicide's Lieutenant Newbold,
driving with his radio on channel
three, heard the Ramirez call for
help. Newbold immediately switched
his radio to the special
surveillance channel and called
Ainslie, whose voice, also from a
car, came back promptly.

"QSK, Lieutenant."

"Malcolm, take all your people off
surveillance. Get them to Coral Way
and Thirty-second Avenue. Two po-
licemen and a security guard have
been shot in an armored truck
robbery, one policeman and the guard
reported DOA. I want you to handle
it. Assign whoever you want to
lead."

Ainslie permitted himself a silent
Damn! knowing this unexpected new
priority meant the surveillance
program was going down the tubes.
Aloud, he transmitted, "Okay,
Lieutenant. I'll take my units."

The surveillance teams, monitoring
the same channel, should have heard
the exchange, but Ainslie called,
"Thirteen-ten to all units. Did you
hear that?"

"Thirteen-eleven to thirteen-ten.
Heard it." The other teams on duty
made identical reports.

200 Arthur Halley

"Then go to Coral Way and
Thirty-second, guys. I'll meet you
there."

Switching channels, Ainslie
called, "Thirteen-ten to dispatcher.
Ask any unit on the shooting scene
to go to Tac One for me." Tac One
was the Homicide channel.

A familiar voice responded from
the Barnett Bank scene:
"Thirteen-ten, this is
one-seven-zero. QSK."

Ainslie asked, "Is this Bart?"
Bartolo Esposito was a uniform
patrol sergeant, but last names were
never used on radio, mainly because
the media was listening.

"Sure is, Malcolm. We got big
trouble here. What do you want me to
do?"

"Rope off the scene, as big an
area as you can, and keep everyone
away."

"It's being cleared now, except
for Fire-Rescue. They're trying to
stabilize the wounded officer before
transporting."

"Thanks, Bart. I'll be there
shortly."

Ainslie returned to channel three
and asked the dispatcher to get ID
to the scene.

"Doing that now, thirteen-ten."

On another channel Ainslie summoned
a state attorney.

On arriving at the Barnett Bank,
Malcolm Ainslie appointed Detective
Ruby Bowe as lead investigator. She
immediately began questioning
several witnesses, including Tomas
Ramirez, who supplied a surprisingly
good description of the three
gunmen, now widely sought fugitives.
Despite that information, and the
earlier description of the getaway
car and license number, the suspects
had not been seen, so it seemed
likely they had gone into hiding,
probably not far away.

Only minutes after Lieutenant
Newbold reached the

DETECTIVE 201

crime scene, Lieutenant Daniel
Huerta of Robbery arrived, too. His
first words to Newbold were, "I know
this is now your scene, Leo, but I
need all my people back immedi-
ately."

"You got 'em," Newbold told him.

They agreed that Robbery could
probably help in identifying the
suspects, who most likely had
previous robbery records.

Though no one said so, there was
always a competitive edge between
Robbery and Homicide. Neither side,
however, was foolish enough to let
rivalry impede an investigation.

As all leads were followed,
evidence and information
accumulated, including positive
identification of the three killers
by several witnesses who had pored
over mug shots from police files.
The charges would now be triple
murder, because the wounded second
policeman had since died.

Tips from informants about possible
hideaways resulted in
raids unproductive until two of the
offenders were spotted going into a
first-floor apartment, part of an
abandoned residential complex in the
Deep Grove area, a seedy adjunct to
Coconut Grove. Local residents who
had seen the suspects called police.

Shortly before dawn on the third
day after the robbery and murders, a
SWAT team converged on the
apartment, where all three men were
sleeping. Though still heavily
armed, the men were taken by
surprise, handcuffed, and their
weapons seized. The bag of money
stolen from the armored truck was
recovered, and the Buick Century
used in the robbery was found two
blocks away.

Ainslie now knew there was no chance
of reviving the surveillance, and
wasn't sure it was such a bad thing,
given

202 Arthur Hailey

the disappointing results so far.
Instead he concentrated on reviewing
all the serial crimes. Contrary to
his hopes, no leads or fresh ideas
developed.

Then the unexpected happened.

Three days after the armored truck
perpetrators were arrested, when
routines in Homicide were beginning
to return to normal, the Dade County
assistant medical examiner phoned
Malcolm Ainslie.

Sandra Sanchez said, "When we last
met, Malcolm, I promised to look
among old autopsy records for any
unresolved deaths with similar wound
patterns. Well, I have, and I'm
sorry it took so long, but what I've
been searching through is old stuff,
papers that aren't computerized "

"Don't apologize," Ainslie said.
"The point is, have you found
anything?"

"Yes, I think so. It's in a file
with a lot of other material, and
I've sent the whole lot over to you
by messenger. The case is an old,
unsolved killing seventeen years
ago, with two elderly victims named
Esperanza Clarence and Florentina."

"Are any suspects named?"