American homeless people, surviving in the city

Officer Kayla is here?

Therefore, it's possible that she didn't intentionally ignore Chen Kelei's messages; she was simply busy with work early in the morning and didn't have time to reply.

Thinking about this possibility, Lin Qi felt a little more relaxed.

Even so, Officer Kayla's attitude remained ambiguous, so Lynch did not let his guard down too much and simply sat quietly in the car, waiting for Officer Kayla to arrive.

After calling Kayla's name, the young officer turned and left. A short while later, Kayla emerged from the woods behind the guard post, surrounded by police tape. She was dressed in the same way Lynch knew: a high ponytail, a tight police uniform, and jeans.

However, perhaps because she was going out on a field trip today, she didn't wear those tall boots, but instead wore flat sneakers that were easier to move in.

Although she was dressed as usual, Kayla was clearly not in good condition. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were dark-rimmed, whether from staying up all night or a hangover was hard to tell. She had a cigarette dangling from her lips, but it wasn't lit, and she was walking unsteadily.

Upon seeing Lin Qi, she raised an eyebrow and greeted him with a smile in her slightly husky, androgynous voice:

"Hey, you're here pretty early. I thought guys like you who're homeless were lazybones who wouldn't get up to work until the sun was high in the sky."

Hearing Kayla's usual barbed remarks, Lynch felt a strange sense of warmth. He sighed and retorted helplessly:

"I know this stereotype is common, but in fact, apart from incurable addicts and a few bastards, the vast majority of people on the streets work much harder than people in society just to survive."

"Okay, okay, you're right. I'm not really interested in arguing with you about this." Kayla waved her hand, pointing to the crime scene behind her. "I need to focus my remaining energy on more troublesome matters. Damn it, things have been so chaotic lately. Even my rare nights of drinking won't let me have a moment's peace..."

Hearing this, Lin Qi was basically certain why Kayla wasn't replying to Chen Kelei. He feigned curiosity and asked, "The night of drinking?"

"It's a night of pure bliss where you completely numb your brain with alcohol. I do this every week or two," Kayla explained briefly. "As for the specifics, you...won't want to know. That might be a bit disgusting."

"You dare to drink like this on a night between two workdays?"

"After all, you brought me two bottles of good wine yesterday." Kayla shrugged. "If I don't drink them as soon as possible, I feel like I'm doing my stomach a disservice."

...I feel like you're doing a disservice to your liver.

Lin Qi was somewhat speechless, but still tentatively asked the question that concerned him most:

"So the reason I didn't reply when I told you this morning that today's cleaning tasks could proceed as scheduled is because you're still hungover?"

"No," Kayla sighed, "It's because I drank too much last night and forgot to charge my phone, so it was switched off this morning. If my colleague hadn't come to my dorm to wake me up, I wouldn't even know what tasks I had to do this morning."

This guy.

Lin Qi really didn't expect that the reason why Kayla hadn't replied to his messages for so long, which had made him and Chen Kelei worry for so long, was actually the two bottles of wine he had brought yesterday!

Having said that, he couldn't ask any more questions. He would have to leave it to Chen Kelei to find out Officer Kayla's true attitude.

So Lynch changed the subject:

"So you guys were at work so early this morning? What happened here?"

Facing acquaintances, Kayla didn't bother to hide anything. She simply sighed, exhaled the cigarette from her mouth, and stuffed it back into her pocket.

"The security guard on duty at this post died in the grove of trees surrounded by the police tape. There were signs of a struggle at the scene, which is clearly another murder."

Lin Qi's heart sank. He immediately remembered the security guard he had seen yesterday when entering and leaving the lakeside area.

All told, the two had only been apart for 12 hours. How could he have died so suddenly overnight?

A chilling sense of dread suddenly surged through Lin Qi's mind—the security guard's death might mean that the nameless cult was still watching everything that happened in the Lakeside District!

If even a strong and muscular security guard responsible for Seattle's most exclusive and affluent neighborhood can be easily killed in the woods,

Once they set their sights on you, probably no one can escape their clutches!

Seeing that Lynch's expression was clearly off, Kayla shook her head understandingly.

"It's alright, we're already conducting an intensive investigation. You don't need to worry, just focus on your work."

Your police's "intensive" investigation is really making me uneasy!

Lynch really didn't want to listen to Kayla's bureaucratic nonsense, so he changed the subject:

"How did he die? Can I go see him?"

"What's the use of you looking at the body?" Kayla looked at him strangely. "The forensic doctor has already examined it. The cause of death is mechanical asphyxiation. Judging from the wound on the neck, the murder weapon was probably a thin but strong rope such as steel wire or fishing line."

"The body was just dumped in a bush in the woods and was discovered this morning by a nanny who was walking her dog nearby. To be honest, the killer never intended to hide the body; it was just left there...it's practically a provocation."

She paused, then continued, "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, but these recent cases are definitely suspicious. Someone's targeting the Lakeside area, but I don't understand why..."

Upon hearing Kayla suddenly bring up recent cases, Lynch quickly pressed for details:

"What, do you have some suspicions? I saw it when I was cleaning up the traces inside the villa. Could that scene really be something from a typical burglary and robbery?"

Lynch asked his questions with restraint, not showing that he knew more, but only wanting to get a little more information out of Kayla.

Unexpectedly, Officer Kayla, who had just been frowning in deep thought, suddenly relaxed. She shook her head and laughed nonchalantly:

"Sigh, I understand what you're saying, but forget it. With this meager salary, I'm not going to worry about it. Whether this case is investigated or not is none of my business. I'll just take it one day at a time."

"On the contrary, it's you, Brother Lin Qi,"

As she spoke, she reached into the car window, patted Lin Qi on the shoulder, and laughed, "If you can do more missions, I can earn more commission."

"So, Lynch, you'd better work hard so I can drink a few more bottles of wine!"

You should drink less!

Listening to Kayla's outrageous, unscrupulous boss-like remarks, Lynch really didn't know what to say. But the attention Kayla showed him actually gave Lynch a glimmer of hope.

So, he hesitated before speaking:

"Look how early I've come to work, I'm already quite dedicated, right? But seeing that another murder has occurred, I just can't calm down."

"Don't talk like that." Kayla saw through Lynch's misunderstanding and urged him impatiently, "If you have something to say, say it now, and then get back to work. I should go back to the crime scene."

"I just want to see the body."

"What's so interesting about that corpse?" Kayla was genuinely puzzled, but she finally sighed and nodded. "Fine, whatever your reason, look if you want. I'll allow you to take a look from a distance, but you're not allowed to go inside the cordon and disturb the scene, understand?"

"Absolutely."

Lin Qi quickly opened the car door and got out, then strode to the police cordon.

Lin Qi was determined to see the body, just to confirm the identity of the deceased.

He didn't really know what he could do now that he had identified the deceased, but he had a gut feeling that he should go and take a look.

The body lay on the damp, muddy ground not far away. Perhaps because the police had only recently arrived, the body was not yet covered with a white sheet.

Lin Qi saw it clearly at a glance.

He had never seen the face of the corpse lying there.