This is Very United States

Link was about to look closer when, sensing that Link had stopped moving, Lena came back to her senses slightly and asked, "What's wrong, dear?"

Distracted, the figure had already disappeared. Link said, "It looks like Mira is in trouble, and the situation isn't good. She hasn't moved at all. Whatever the situation, it's highly likely she's dead. Let's go down and ask if they've called for emergency services."

When Lena heard that Mira was in trouble, she was initially a little gleeful, but when she heard she was dead, she was suddenly startled, even a little worried and scared, and held Link tightly the whole way.

Everyone here was a high school student, so someone would have called the police and emergency services. Plus, Dart's house was less than a five-minute drive from the Town Police Station and the hospital. As soon as the two of them got downstairs, the police car arrived.

The police car and ambulance drove directly to the pool in the backyard. They immediately recognized the short-haired blonde female police officer who got out of the police car as Annie.

Then a second police car arrived, and the first person to get out was Robert. He glanced at the paramedics checking on Mira's condition and didn't immediately go over. Instead, he directed the other police officers who had arrived to maintain order.

Seeing Link, Robert said, "You were at this house's party. Do you know everyone who was here?"

Link glanced at Lena, who said, "Everyone who was invited is our classmate. I know the list, but I don't know if anyone else who wasn't invited snuck in."

"That's alright, that's enough." Robert's eyes lit up. He said to Annie, "You record the list."

"No problem."

Just as the two of them finished talking, another gasp came from over there. A moment later, a stretcher covered with a white sheet was carried into the ambulance.

Clearly, Mira was dead.

The crowd was a little restless, and many people were already preparing to leave.

As the cheerleading captain, Mira usually didn't get along too well with Lena, but at this moment, Lena also felt a bit of sadness, like a rabbit mourning the death of a fox.

As the queen bee of the school, she knew a lot of information, including who was invited to this party. And the people present, at the request of the police, also chose to stay.

After all, they were all high school students and didn't have such complicated thoughts yet. With a death occurring, it was normal for the police to ask them to stay.

It was one thing to run away before, but if they ran away after being told to stay, they might be suspected of having a guilty conscience.

After another ten minutes or so, except for the two police officers left on duty at the police station, all the other officers had arrived, a total of fourteen people, and they all started busy taking statements from the people present.

The town wasn't very big, so the number of police officers wasn't very large. What was giving Robert a headache at the moment was the large number of people at the scene of the homicide.

According to the information currently registered, this high school party had over two hundred people, and in addition to the majority of high school students, they had even found three middle school girls under the age of fifteen, who were the kind of chuunibyou girls often seen at parties.

Over two hundred kids, it would take more than half a year to visit one family a day. After that, there would be no clues. Therefore, if no important clues could be found within a few days, Robert estimated that the possibility of solving the case would be close to zero.

But no matter what, the work still had to be done. After a busy period, they basically finished dealing with the matter before twelve o'clock. Robert then walked back to the police car with a tired look on his face and immediately saw Link and Lena still there.

Robert immediately said to Link, "You should go back early. Do you need me to give you a ride?"

Shaking his head, Link said, "No need. You're definitely going to be very busy next, so I won't delay your time. Lena invited me to her place."

Link had been Lena's tutor at her house for two years, so Robert certainly knew Lena. He had even collected information about Lena before and was clear about her personality.

Fortunately, he knew that Link and Lena were just having some innocent fun. If it were normally, he might have given them a few pointers, but at this time, he didn't have the energy. He just said, "Alright, but don't forget to call Lisa so she doesn't worry."

However, when Link woke up the next day, it was just barely dawn.

Now, the amount of time Link needed to rest was greatly reduced. He didn't wake Lena up, but packed up and went straight home. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Robert eating breakfast.

Seeing Link, Robert said, "Kid, back so early?"

"I promised to visit Sheldon's house today, so I have to go out again later." Link said casually, then asked, "How's Mira's case going?"

"The body has been sent for autopsy, but the preliminary assessment is that it's likely not accidental drowning. However, a conclusion will require the specific autopsy report. By the way, did you find anything unusual yesterday?"

Link thought for a moment and said, "Not yet. I'll let you know if I think of anything."

"Okay, have fun then. I need to get busy." Robert ate breakfast more quickly than usual because this case was quite troublesome.

If the girl had accidentally drowned on her own, it wouldn't be much concern for the police station. If it was foul play, he had to solve the case as quickly as possible.

It had been a while since there was a homicide in the small town, especially when the victim was the daughter of a local resident. This made it even more crucial not to relax. The sooner the case was solved, the more it would show that the officers at the Town Police Station weren't just collecting a paycheck.

The United States is different from China. Their administrative divisions, from largest to smallest, are state, county, and city, followed by smaller towns and villages. However, the law enforcement system works in reverse.

Matters not handled by village and town police stations or city police stations fall under the jurisdiction of the county sheriff. Matters not handled by the county sheriff fall under the jurisdiction of the state police.

The town's police station is not under the city police department but is directly accountable to the townspeople. The salaries of the town's police officers are also allocated by the town's administrative system.

This system means that the Town Police Station often doesn't need to defer to the city police department. Even when the FBI comes to handle a case, they can directly push back, unless the case is unsolvable and has a severe impact. Otherwise, local police departments generally won't hand over case handling authority to other departments.

The town police station is only responsible to the town residents, but if some cases with severe impact cannot be solved, it can easily lead to a crisis of trust among the town residents. This could range from reduced budgets affecting income to the direct dismissal of the person in charge.

So, after thinking carefully, Link said, "However, I do know a little about Mira's situation. She has an official boyfriend at school, who is the captain of the school's Football Team, Joe.

Besides that, she has relatively close relationships with two other football players. As for temporary relationships, I'm not too sure."

Robert said "Oh." This kind of thing wasn't uncommon, especially among cheerleaders, where it was quite normal. Robert nodded and asked, "How do you know this?"

"Lena and Mira don't get along well, so Lena has been collecting gossip about her. I learned this from her."

"Oh, it seems your efforts last night were quite effective." Robert made a casual joke. He had been through major events before, so despite the seriousness of the situation, his mindset was good. "Tell me more details."

Link nodded, "Besides Joshua, her official boyfriend, Mira also had some involvement with Boris and Rhoda, two other members of the Football Team. Oh, Boris is a Defensive End, and Rhoda is a Quarterback."

"Oh, these kids nowadays..." Lisa, who was nearby, couldn't help but sigh after hearing this.

Link didn't say much more. These three could be said to be the three most popular players on the Football Team. Besides them, Mira had also had "friendly matches" with multiple other classmates. Even Lena couldn't say for sure about the specifics. It could only be said that this was the daily life of many cheerleaders in American high schools.

In fact, Mira's official boyfriend was aware of her interactions with other men, just as Mira knew that her boyfriend was hooking up with several girls from the cheerleading squad. This is very American.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, perhaps such a boy would have a slightly more pleasant title, like Playboy or something similar. However, such a girl would be looked down upon on the other side of the Pacific and called a "green tea bitch."

But in the United States, not to mention boys, a girl like Mira, who is sweet-looking, has a good figure, and a relatively lively personality, will still have many people flocking to her even if she does this openly.

It's like Penny in The Big Bang Theory. She started dating at fourteen, and in the show, she even mentioned having cheated with a pair of brothers. Not to mention the many other pieces of gossip that weren't revealed.

But even so, Leonard still treated Penny like a goddess and tried every means to pursue her. It can only be said that the cultural environment is different, and people's ideas are also different.

Of course, not all girls are like this. There are also many self-respecting girls in the United States. This phenomenon simply illustrates that the American view on this matter is completely different from that on the other side of the Pacific.

As Link spoke, he took out a piece of paper and said, "Here is some detailed information."

Robert nodded, took the paper from Link, and said, "Thank you, you've helped me a lot. I'm going to the police station now. You go about your business. If you think of anything else, you can contact me again."

"No problem."