My Mother Was a Martyred Anti-Drug Policeman; Am I Really the Failed Daughter of a Hero?

My mom was a DEA agent, lost in the line of duty. Since I was a little kid, I had one dream: to reclaim her badge number.

The moment I found out my scores were high enough for the police academy, I called my dad, buzzing with excitement.

But he blew up. “You, a good-for-nothing loser like you, want to be a cop? Reclaim your mom’s badge number?! Don’t you dare shame your mother! Get lost!”

My heart froze solid, my world crumbling around me. I stumbled home, only to be surrounded by a gang of addicts in a dark alley.

“Heard your mom, Sergeant Dana, was a narcotics expert, trained a bunch of hotshots, made it impossible for us to even get a fix? Come on, let’s talk!”

Naturally, I fought back with everything I had. But they were ready. A sharp knife plunged into my lower back, draining all my strength.

Before I blacked out, my dad’s last words echoed in my mind.

Dad, did I really disgrace Mom…?

It was the dead of night when the police got a call. A large pool of blood was found in a dark alley in South Bayport, but no one was around.

The caller thought it was just some drunk fight and quickly reported it, hoping the police would find the injured person and get them to a hospital fast.

The police rushed to the scene, only to find the heavy rain had already washed away most of the blood, making it a chaotic mess! There wasn’t a trace of the injured person nearby.

They immediately launched a carpet search and soon found dismembered body parts in an abandoned factory nearby.

The morgue lights flickered on.

“What’s the situation with this case?”

A calm, steady male voice broke the silence. A man in a crisp forensic uniform walked in with two young police officers. This was my dad, Dr. Miles, the top forensic pathologist in Bayport.

“Dr. Miles, the victim’s condition is pretty grim. Maybe you should prepare yourself…”

Dad waved a dismissive hand. “What kind of body haven’t I seen? Just start the autopsy. Let’s solve this case as soon as possible!”

He was right. Dad had been practicing for nearly twenty years. He’d seen it all: bloated bodies, headless corpses, dismembered remains, even bodies encased in concrete or reduced to fluid. When it came to forensics, he was a pro.

But Dad, did you ever think that the body on that autopsy table… would be your most disregarded daughter?

I floated in the air, watching my dad work with a strange detachment. The moment he unzipped the body bag, his brow furrowed. It wasn’t just the jumbled mess of flesh and bone inside; it was the missing, most crucial part.

“Where’s the head? Where did it go?”

“Uh… Dr. Miles, we searched that abandoned factory thoroughly, but we couldn’t find it. Most likely, the suspect took it.”

“Forget it! Let’s start the autopsy.”

Dad put on his gloves and began his professional sorting. Bone fragments, tissue, finger pieces… Everything he could identify was carefully laid out.

“The victim is female, growth plates were narrow, not yet fully fused, estimated age between eighteen and twenty-three. Height between 5’3” and 5’7”. Probably a student.”

“Based on the vitality of the cuts, the culprits must have first brutally broken this kid’s finger bones, radius, ulna, humerus, tibia, and femur while she was still alive. Then they dismembered her limbs. It seems that wasn’t enough for them; they used other blunt objects. Her ribs and spine are almost entirely fractured into tiny pieces…”

Dad reported the findings professionally, while the young officer in charge of recording had already gone paper-white. Just hearing the description made him want to throw up! It was even harder to imagine the pain and despair the victim must have experienced!

Dad suddenly turned. “Was a murder weapon found at the scene?”

“Uh, yes, sir.”

The young officer quickly handed a set of photos to Dad. It showed a saw covered in rust and blood, and a large sledgehammer caked with blood and tissue. A dull saw, used to savagely cut off every one of the victim’s fingers, every joint… The pain such weapons would inflict on a living person was beyond words!