The Racketeer

Malcolm introduces Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. According to Rule 35, if an inmate can solve another federal crime, the inmate’s sentence may be commuted and the prisoner released. The feds have come back to talk to Malcolm. This time, Victor Westlake is in charge. He agrees to make a deal with Malcolm. In the terms of the deal, Malcolm will remain in prison until the FBI secures an indictment against whomever he names. After that, Malcolm will be freed, presented with a new face and identity, and awarded the $150,000 reward money.

When all the agreements have been signed, Malcolm provides the name of the murderer: Quinn Rucker. Malcolm met Quinn at Frostburg, and they became friends. Quinn had escaped from the prison and disappeared three months before the narrative present. Malcolm relates that Quinn came from a family of drug dealers. One of Quinn’s cousins was arrested on a drug-trafficking charge after an illegal search. Quinn’s family paid Judge Fawcett half a million dollars to exclude the results of the search from the evidence in the trial. The judge took the money but reneged on the deal, allowing the evidence from the search to be entered.