Do we have any idea if Miles in the side flash has the ability to hear the dead's last thoughts? If he doesn't then why doesn't he? It would be a useful tool for a detective but one that might get him ridiculed.
If he doesn't have the ability it could mean that neither he or his mother were ever on the island.

Anyone have any ideas?

He may have the ability, but aren't Sawyer and Miles in the Fraud division?(Not sure what division handles conning) While this may be somewhat helpful in this division, I would think it would be much more helpful if he was in Homicide. It's not certain though from what we saw whether or not he does have the ability, but it would be nice to see them revisit this and let us know. I'm not sure if that will happen though.

I don't think enough has been revealed about sideways Miles yet to know if he can talk to the dead. Unlike Ben and his dad that talked about time on the island, Miles hasn't said anything.

I'm kinda thinking we won't find out either.

I guess what I'm trying to say is Miles ability because of the island or did Jacob perhaps touch him at some point. If Miles and mom left the island when the children were sent away, is his ability an accident of birth or exposure while on the island or Jacob's doing. This could help explain why Bram and company tried to warn him away from helping Widmore if he had been touched by Jacob.

Richard's speech about Jacob's touch granting a gift made me wonder if perhaps he has bestowed abilities on our losties.
HURLEY: So... you're not time-travelling?
RICHARD: No.
HURLEY: But... you look the same as you did thirty years ago. How's that possible?
RICHARD: It's not easy to explain.
HURLEY: Is this, like, a Terminator thing? Are you a cyborg?
RICHARD: No, I'm not a cyborg.
HURLEY: Vampire?
RICHARD: Jacob gave me a gift.

RICHARD: What I'm talking about Jack is that...Jacob touched me, and when Jacob touches you... well it's considered a gift... except it's not a gift at all. It's a curse.
Maybe he was just talking about himself. Maybe there's an implied 'more to it' we haven't seen yet. Like he gave Hurley his talk to the dead "blessing". Jack, his ability to cry. Kate her Houdini. Sawyer the ability to take off his shirt. Etc.

Extending that, maybe Miles got his "gift" from Jacob. We just haven't seen it. :shrug:

If Miles can hear the dead in the alt-world I will need a damn good explanation of why he works anything other than Homicide.

I think an awesome question to ask here is if he gets to share his gift with Sawyer by using it with his parents. A final message from beyond from his trusted partner might just help bring him some closure without all the killing.