Suspect #14.

The Construction Worker.

Kalu is a colorful guy. I didn't even know he existed until the detectives were given evidence that he was being creepy at the job site and had made his coworkers suspicious and uncomfortable. There was a tip called in, in relation to my murder, from the foreman at the construction site across the road from my building. Apparently, I was being watched by Kalu.

Detective Keele had promptly looked him up and found out he had a colorful past. He was born in Hawaii and moved to multiple states to take up construction jobs. His arrest records were just as varied. Fraud, identity theft, DUI. Thankfully though, nothing overly violent or sexual in nature. 

Why were you watching me then?

I'm at the job site now, hovering around Kalu. He is not what I expected. The detectives painted him as a real lower life type of guy, and I figured his appearance would suggest as much. Instead though, he is actually handsome. 

"Kalu! We need to finish up the drywall on the twelfth floor!" The foreman calls out. 

Kalu grunts and takes a large drink from his big water bottle. I can see that he has quite a few tattoos on his arms. A giant lion with an intricate crown that looks British, a bunch of random numbers and a few of different rifles. All subdued in blackish grey hues. Interesting. 

"Hey man, rumor is going around that the cops are looking to interview you." 

A co-worker comes up to talk to him. He is a typical Hawaiian type, older Asian male.

"Ron...fuck yeah man. The cops are always hassling me. I am on probation, not wanted for murder." He replies, humor in his voice. 

"You do something bad?" The older worker asks.

"Fuck no. I am on the straight and narrow. Got this good job, I don't need to steal any more credit cards."

The man picks up a tool belt and walks away after they banter a bit more. Clearly Kalu was liked on the job site. I watch as other workers stop to chatter with him as he makes his way to the floor the foreman wanted him to be on. Why has this man I am observing been connected to watching me? For what purpose?

He steps down carefully onto a large multi-tiered scaffolding system and moves down to a few floors below. How can men work so high up without much to keep them safe? I assume that the pay is stellar. Or they have a thing for adrenaline. 

"Kalu, you fucker! What did you do this time?!"

A youngish guy holding the railing along the edge of the building calls out to him as he reaches the desired floor.

"Brah...no worries! I haven't done a fucking thing!" Kalu replies. "Cops can talk to me all they want, they have nothing on me."

The men laugh as they talk and shoot the breeze. They also begin to work and labor as they put up new sections of drywall. I can smell the stench of chemicals as other work begins on the space. If I were still alive, I could never work in such an environment. 

"You hear about the dead girl from across the street? What was her name?" 

Kalu paused his work and looked at his friend.

"Leilani. Her name was Leilani."

🩸

The foreman's trailer stunk like body odor and old Chinese food, the kind that has stayed out in the sun for half a day. 

"Do you mind if we open a window in here before we start?" Detective Jones asks Kalu. 

"Go right ahead. It stinks in here." 

The window creaked and moaned as the detective forced it open. Who knows how long it had been shut. The foreman must keep the door open for air circulation. 

"So we need to ask you a few questions, about your interest in a murder victim from across the street." Detective Jones says, turning to sit down in a dusty chair. "An anonymous worker called us and reported strange behavior from you. Can you tell us how you knew the victim?"

"I didn't know her." Kalu quipped, not giving them any more information. 

He was obviously a seasoned criminal, and one who knew what he was doing when it came to cops. Most of the suspects had readily given answers or at least acted like they were scared or shocked. He is doing none of the normal things. 

"You didn't...then why watch her with binoculars?"

Kalu shrugs. 

"I guess I love pretty women. It's not a crime, is it?"

He watched me with binoculars? Why would he do that? He didn't know me, I had never met him before in my life. He couldn't be another stalker. Something was telling me that wasn't true. 

"It is if you are stalking. And you are a felon on parole, I think your parole officer would love to hear about this.."

"You can call him, I'll just tell him the same thing I told you. She was pretty and I got bored on my meal breaks. I decided to eat my sandwiches and look around at the neighborhood. She caught my eye. Simple as that."

"Not quite." Detective Keele says. 

He had yet to interject anything, choosing to let detective Jones take the lead. 

"You also know about her financial freedom, don't you? You've asked around when residents were leaving and you got her name. Looked her up then decided to mark her for a scam. Sound about right?"

Kalu laughed. The sound was genuine, not contrived. 

"I'm not scamming her or planning to. I just like to have a name to a face. Maybe I was working up the courage to ask her out? I like to date younger women."

Detective Keele didn't buy it though. 

"Maybe you already asked her and she said no. Then you kept stalking her, and decided if she wouldn't have you, she couldn't have anyone...."

"Detectives, I have never killed anyone in my life. I would never. I am not a killer. She was such a nice young lady, I am upset that she died. You can take my word for it, or do a polygraph on me about it. I am not lying."

"We will be in touch." Detective Keele said quickly, standing up. 

"No problem. I am pretty much always here."

🩸

I wanted to know what the detectives thought about Kalu so I decided to follow them for their walk back to the unmarked SUV. Something felt weird about this suspect. And apparently they thought so too.

"We need to dig deeper on this guy. Something feels terribly off. We are missing something." Detective Keele says. 

"Right. I felt it too. He's too suave. I mean, Bundy was likable and charming and he murdered a lot of women...but he's hiding something. Do you really think it's related to identity theft? Why he was watching her so much?" Detective Jones asks. 

"Yes, but I think he's connected to something bigger. I don't know why but I do. A feeling." 

"Your hunches are always right. So let's dig deeper..." 

They both reach the SUV and get in. I'll catch up with them later on. Back to Kalu. Hopefully he hasn't made a phone call without me there to listen in. I transport back to him in the foreman's trailer. The boss came back and they are talking. 

"Fuck man. They accused you of stalking her for money?" The foreman asks. 

"Well yeah. They looked up my criminal history. I know what my past is but I didn't kill her! And I wasn't stalking her! I don't know who called them and said I was watching her in the first place.." 

The foreman interrupts him. 

"Well don't go blaming anyone here. You were acting weird. You probably shouldn't use the binoculars on the job site." 

Kalu frowns, clearly not liking this answer. 

"It's not illegal. I see guys smoking on the site and that's prohibited, but nobody says anything to them. Plus guys cat calling women..." 

"Fair enough." The foreman says, putting his hands slightly up. "Just be more discreet. We all need to get along and focus on work." 

The foreman seemed uneasy with the conversation turn. I figure it was Kalu's past criminal history. He doesn't want to mess with him. You just never know if someone will flip out. Better to keep the peace and keep an eye out. 

"You don't gotta worry about me. I'm all in for the paychecks. Speaking of, I want to work overtime this week. Is that still good?" 

"Yeah, yeah. Just punch out at normal time then punch back in. So the system tracks it properly instead of thinking you forgot to clock out." 

The Foreman extends his hand and they shake briefly. Then Kalu leaves the trailer. I follow him. He walks back to his old beat up truck though, instead of going back up. He opens the cab and grabs a lunch pail. After shutting the door the takes out his cell phone. He dials a number not in his contacts and waits while it rings. Once again, I can't hear who is on the other end. 

"Hey. They came. Just like you said." 

~ This book is Copyrighted by K E Jennings and only available on Wattpad. if you are reading this on another site, it has been stolen without permission or monetary payment to the said author. ~

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Fun Hawaiian Facts: There are NO billboards in Hawaii. It also was the first US state to ban them.