My father was a narcotics officer who died in the line of duty. From a young age, I dreamed of becoming a police officer, just like him. When I found out I could apply to the police academy, I immediately called my mom to share the good news. But Mom was furious. “You? A police officer?! Don’t disgrace your father’s legacy! Get out!” Disappointed, I walked home, only to be surrounded by drug addicts in a dark alley. “Heard your dad, David Miller, was a drug enforcement expert? Made it so hard for us to even get a hit?” Their sharp knife plunged into my lower back. I collapsed and died. Before I lost consciousness, my mom’s last words echoed in my mind. Mom, did I really disgrace Dad’s legacy…? It was the dead of night when the police received a public report: a large amount of blood was found in a dark alley on the south side of the city, but no body. The caller thought it was just a drunk brawl and quickly reported it, hoping the police would find the injured person and get them to a hospital. Officers rushed to the scene, only to find that the heavy rain that night had already washed away most of the blood, leaving scattered, indistinct stains! There wasn’t a single trace of an injured person nearby. They immediately launched a carpet search and found dismembered remains in a nearby abandoned factory. In the morgue, the lights flickered on. “What’s the status on this case?” A calm, steady female voice broke the silence. A woman in a sharp forensic uniform entered, accompanied by two young officers. This was my mom, Sarah Smith, the city’s top forensic pathologist. “Dr. Smith, the victim’s situation is quite gruesome. Perhaps you should prepare yourself mentally…” Mom waved her hand. “What kind of body haven’t I seen? Just start the autopsy. Let’s solve this case as soon as possible!” Indeed, Mom had been in the field for nearly twenty years. She’d seen it all: bloated bodies, headless corpses, dismembered remains, even bodies encased in concrete or the fluids of decomposition. As a forensic pathologist, she was a true professional. But Mom, did you ever consider that the body on that autopsy table would be your least cared-for daughter? I floated in mid-air, watching Mom’s actions with a detached calm. The moment she unzipped the body bag, Mom’s brows furrowed. It wasn’t just because of the chaotic mess of shredded flesh and broken bones inside, but because the most crucial part was missing. “Where’s the head? What happened to it?” “Well… Dr. Smith, we searched the entire abandoned factory, but couldn’t find it. Most likely, the perpetrator took it.” “Never mind! Let’s just start the autopsy.” Mom put on her gloves and began her professional sorting. Bone fragments, flesh, pieces of fingers… Everything she could identify was meticulously laid out. “The victim is female, with narrow growth plates that haven’t fully fused, suggesting an age between eighteen and twenty-three. Height is between 5’5″ and 5’7″, likely still a student.” “Based on the vitality of the cuts, the culprits likely live-fractured the child’s phalanges, radius, ulna, humerus, tibia, and femur, then dismembered her limbs. As if that wasn’t enough, they used other blunt objects. The ribs and vertebrae are almost entirely shattered…” Mom professionally reported her findings. Officer Ben, tasked with taking notes, had already turned deathly pale. Just listening to the description made him almost vomit! It was even harder to imagine the pain and despair the victim must have endured through all of it! Mom suddenly turned her head. “Were any weapons found at the scene?” “Uh, yes, yes, there were.” Officer Ben quickly handed a set of photos to Mom. It showed a rusty saw covered in blood and a large, blood-stained sledgehammer with bits of flesh stuck to it. The dull saw, used to savagely hack off each finger, each joint… The pain such a weapon would inflict on a living person was beyond words!
Mom’s brows were tightly furrowed. “This wasn’t a random act, was it? What kind of hatred could they have harbored for this child?” Normally, even in revenge killings, the brutality wouldn’t reach this level. Officer Ben replied respectfully, “Dr. Smith, the homicide unit’s preliminary investigation has ruled out robbery and random acts. It’s almost certainly a revenge killing. Detective Hayes and his team are currently sweeping the city for recent missing person reports.” “Understood.” Mom meticulously pieced the remains together, hoping to find some useful information to help solve the case. But it was all in vain. Even teeth, which could identify someone even after disfigurement, had been taken by the criminals along with the head. With only a body so severely damaged, almost pulverized, and completely stripped of clothing, finding the true identity seemed an impossible task! I floated in the air, partly relieved, partly emotional. Thank goodness Mom didn’t realize it was me. Otherwise, she’d probably just call me useless again… Mom let out a deep sigh. “What a poor child! What kind of generational hatred could lead to such brutality against a child…” Tears seemed to glisten in Mom’s eyes. Mom, meticulously piecing together every bone fragment. Mom, trying to find every single piece of useful information. Mom, showing sympathy for a complete stranger, a headless female corpse. It was all so foreign to me. I knew Mom didn’t like me. When I was in elementary school, I had a fever one rainy night. She took me to the emergency room by herself. Mom had wanted Dad, who was working late nights, to get some rest, so she didn’t wake him up. But Mom didn’t know that Dad received an urgent mission notification shortly after. He rushed to the scene without even washing his face. That same rainy night, Dad died in a shootout with a drug lord. Dad’s body was also handled by Mom. I was too young then to understand what death meant, what it felt like. Thinking back now, even Mom wouldn’t have wanted to personally process her own husband’s body, right? It was all my fault, unluckily enough, for getting such a high fever that night. It was normal for Mom to resent me. If I hadn’t been sick, Mom would have desperately stopped Dad from going on that mission. If he hadn’t gone, he wouldn’t have died. It was all my fault… I looked down at Mom. She still hadn’t recognized that the body on the autopsy table was mine. I glanced at the body again – fragmented and filthy. Covered in what looked like mud or blood, every piece of flesh appeared gray and black, no different from leftover food dumped down a drain. Even if it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize myself. No wonder Mom couldn’t. In the quiet morgue, a phone suddenly rang. Mom stopped her work, frowning as she looked at Officer Ben and Officer Taylor. The two young officers shook their heads vigorously. “Dr. Smith, we didn’t bring anything in when we came!” Mom then realized it was her own phone ringing. She pulled off her gloves to check. It was Aunt Carol calling. “Hello, I’m busy…” “Oh, Sarah, I don’t know, have you seen Chloe? I can’t reach her on her phone…” “Chloe?” Hearing my name, Mom’s brows furrowed. “I don’t know! I chewed her out yesterday. She probably ran off to a friend’s place to spend the night. Just leave her be!” Aunt Carol sounded anxious. “Why did you yell at her again? I heard Chloe got into a really good university and plans to major in criminal justice! She was so happy yesterday!” “Criminal justice, my foot! Someone like her should just study business, make honest money, and stay out of trouble! Becoming a police officer would be an insult to the profession!” Mom’s tone was as sharp as ever.
Aunt Carol was silent for a moment. “It’s always been Chloe’s dream. I thought, since she finally got her acceptance letter, I’d invite her over for a big dinner. I bought so much seafood…” Mom was furious. “I forbid her from going down that path! If she insists, she can disown me as her mother! She can go die for all I care!” With that, Mom hung up. She seemed to forget that others were present, her chest heaving with anger as she stood beside the autopsy table, silent for a long time. I’m sorry, Mom. I won’t go down that path. Please don’t be angry; it’s not good for your health. I wanted to say that, but all I could do was float in the air and watch everything unfold. I wanted to cry, but a spirit has no tears. By then, Mom had mostly reassembled the body, but she couldn’t account for my ten fingers. Her brows were tightly knit as she instructed Officer Ben to record. “The victim’s right ring finger and pinky are missing. Have the officers at the scene search again. If they can’t find them…” My heart clenched. When I was little, I was mischievous and went to play with a police dog. It bit through the flesh of those two fingers, leaving terrible scars. That police dog, through no fault of its own, was forced into early retirement because of me. Mom never stopped scolding me for that incident. Had she forgotten? No! It was better if Mom didn’t remember! I didn’t want Mom to know that she had personally processed both my father’s and my own bodies! Officer Ben saluted. “Understood! If they’re not found, it suggests those two fingers have distinct identifying features!” Mom nodded. “Exactly. To identify the victim, we need to look for individuals with old hand injuries or tattoos!” She cut off a small piece of flesh. “Get a DNA test. Compare it against the database. Find the immediate family as soon as possible!” Hearing Mom say that, my heart tightened. If they tested the DNA, wouldn’t my identity be exposed quickly?! Mom! Don’t test the DNA! Mom! Let this case go! Don’t investigate any further! I screamed silently, but Mom couldn’t hear a single word. Mom worked for over ten hours in the morgue. She arrived at dawn, and by the time she left, darkness had fallen again. “Dr. Smith, thank you for your hard work.” Mom nodded. Just as she was about to head home for some rest, she saw Aunt Carol waiting anxiously at the police station entrance. “Sarah, Chloe has been missing for a day and a night now! I asked her classmates, and none of them have seen her! I’ve checked around her school; no sign of her! What should I do?!” Mom seemed annoyed, her brows deeply furrowed. “She’s playing these little games, isn’t she? Trying to force me to agree to her studying that major? No way! Someone on the fringes of society like her should just follow the law, that’s good enough! Dreaming of upholding justice?!” Aunt Carol was almost in tears. “We can talk about her major later! Right now, her safety is more important! I just came here and heard about a major case! A girl who just turned eighteen was dismembered, wasn’t she?! Aren’t you worried Chloe might have run into those people?” Mom, instead, grew angry. “Don’t pry into cases that haven’t been announced! Chloe is eighteen; she can take care of herself! If something happened to her, she only has herself to blame for her bad luck! Knowing how dangerous it is out there, why would she run off?!” Aunt Carol was stunned. “I’m not meddling. I… I’m just afraid something happened to Chloe!” Mom’s gaze was dismissive. “If she can’t even recognize danger and protect herself, what kind of police officer would she be? She might as well switch careers now!”
“Sarah! Listen to yourself! Chloe lost her father when she was little; she’s already suffered enough! Instead of falling into despair, she became even more ambitious, and you constantly tear her down! Are you even human?!” Aunt Carol screamed, tears streaming down her face. “I’m telling you, you’d better pray the victim in this case isn’t Chloe! Otherwise, you’ll have nowhere to run from your regret!” My heart skipped a beat. Had Aunt Carol discovered something? But looking at her expression, she didn’t seem to know the truth. It was more like she was deliberately trying to provoke Mom. Sure enough, Mom’s face instantly changed. “Impossible! Don’t I know my own daughter?! The body in there absolutely cannot be Chloe!” Aunt Carol gritted her teeth. “If it really is Chloe, don’t even think about claiming her body! You never cared for her anyway. She’ll go back to the Miller family!” Mom also raised her voice in retaliation. “Fine! Take her! Do you think I care?! I’ve been sick of that jinx for years!” Aunt Carol was trembling with rage. “You heartless Sarah! If you don’t want Chloe, I do! Such a sensible child, she suffered so much by your side! You cold-blooded monster! I’m truly ashamed of you!” My soul hovered in mid-air, lost and helpless. I knew Aunt Carol was always good to me. After Dad died, Mom rarely paid attention to me. Beyond making sure I was fed, she didn’t care about anything else. I still remember my first set of bras, my first feminine hygiene products—they were all from Aunt Carol. I wanted to study hard to prepare for a career in law enforcement, but Mom didn’t support me. In the end, it was Aunt Carol who secretly encouraged me. From daily necessities like food and clothing to study materials, smartphones, tablets, and computers, Aunt Carol almost always paid for them out of her own pocket. To Aunt Carol, I was practically her own daughter. Aunt Carol, now fuming as she walked out of the police station, sent me a trembling text message. I floated over, peering at it. ‘Chloe, it’s not safe outside right now. No matter how angry you are with your mom, you have to come home! If you don’t want to come home, come to Aunt Carol’s. I’ll support you going to college and help you with tuition! We don’t need your mom. My place will always be your home, sweetie, be good.’ I blinked, feeling a surge of emotion. Aunt Carol had also lost her only brother that rainy night years ago. Yet, she didn’t hate me like Mom did. Instead, she poured all the love she had for her brother onto me. I’m sorry, Carol. I’m afraid I’m destined to disappoint you. Perhaps because my body was still in the police station, I could only follow Aunt Carol for a short distance before I couldn’t go any further, watching her leave. When I floated back into the police station, I found Mom slumped in a chair. Officer Ben saw her and couldn’t help but advise, “Dr. Smith, you’ve been working for twenty hours. You should really go home and rest!” Mom shook her head. “No, I’m just… I can’t let this case go… I’ll rest here for a bit, then go back and look for more clues on the body.” “Oh… alright.” I watched Mom’s swaying body, marveling at her dedication while also wishing she would get some proper rest. … “The DNA results are in!” A shout echoed, and everyone in the police station was instantly re-energized! Even I couldn’t help but feel a pang of anxiety! Mom, who had been staying at the police station for two nights, rushed to the records room. “The database? Have we checked it? Have we identified the victim?” “Still comparing. It’s taking a while, don’t rush!” Everyone crowded around the computer, nervously watching the progress bar crawl forward. 75%… 88%… 95%… 100%! Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final result.
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