The Honolulu Murder Files

Chapter 21

"Boss, you want a burger or a hot dog?" 

Detective Jones pokes his head around the corner into the homicide office. 

"Neither. We are going to Morimoto's for dinner in about an hour!" Detective Keele says, shaking his head at the junior detective. 

"Yeah but I'm hungry now. And food is free.."

Detective Keele grunts and chuckles. No doubt lamenting at the youth of his partner. He watches what he eats for the most part, from what I have noticed observing them. I suspect his wife has something to do with it. He listens to her advice and actually takes heart. Lots of husbands don't. 

Grabbing a marker, he stands and walks to the white board. My murder board. He jots down the name of the last person they interviewed, James. He adds lots of lines around his name. Dark web, plotting with my neighbor and adds a few large question marks. Then he adds spider like lines towards Rachel and also her boyfriends name. 

"Mark..." He mumbles. 

He adds a large question mark by the name as well. His gut was telling him something. I'm not sure what exactly, yet. Detective Keele has decades of experience and he has hunches that shouldn't be ignored. I trust him. 

"You still like the boyfriend for something else?"

Detective Jones has come into the office, hot dog in tow. A glob of mustard starts to fall and he lifts it to the mouth and takes a bite.

"I don't know why. I just have this feeling. He knows something. We might need to have a tail on him, we don't have enough for a subpoena. His alibi checked out. He was at work."

"Can do. I'll get a unit on it. The higher up's really want this solved. I guess a reporter was sniffing around this morning. It's all over the office."

Detective Keele grunts loudly. 

"Don't let anyone pressure you on a case. Ever. You have to keep your focus on the evidence as it comes to you."

"I got it boss. My focus lately has only been on this case. In fact, I called the doctors again at the mental ward and they let me know that Tio has been more lucid and he has been talking about a 'Lila'. I think that is the same HR Lila from our suspects."

Detective Keele turns his head around quickly. 

"Oh really?! What was he saying about her?"

"Not sure in detail...just that he was speaking a lot about a Lila. I think if they will allow us, we could go visit him. See what he says."

"We can...if he isn't drugged up. If he is really lucid then it would make sense and hopefully he would let us know more. I still think Lila has a huge motive. And her position in all of this makes me wonder.."

Taking the last bite of hot dog, detective Jones wipes his hands on the napkin he was holding and throws it into the trashcan on the floor. 

"Makes you wonder what?"

"Makes me wonder if she is connected to more than one scandal here."

🩸

The detectives finished talking in the office and are now walking in the evening breeze towards Morimoto's. They have theorized that Lila has her hands in all sort of unsavory things, and it isn't a stretch too far to say that Kenny knew things that she did. The issue was proving it. They planned to surveil Lila and Kenny unofficially, which hopefully would prove fruitful. 

Waikiki was in full swing with tourists buzzing around. Dinner smells were coming from all directions, carried on by the wind to entice you. I can smell everything, but my stomach doesn't exist anymore, so there was no actual point to it. The living though, they were all in heaven.