Chapter 3

The next day, my father went to the police station. Right after he walked through the door, he asked his assistant, “Has no family member come to claim the body?”

After his assistant said no, my father said angrily, “What monsters! Their child was tortured to death! What exactly are her irresponsible parents doing? When they come, yell at them for me.”

The assistant nodded.

“Are the DNA results not out yet? Ask the tech department to hurry up.”

Right after he finished speaking, his phone rang. My father answered it, and his expression turned darker.

Soon, my aunt came over. She anxiously asked him whether I had contacted my father.

Enraged, my father said, “Why are you worried about that disappointment? Do you know what her homeroom teacher told me just now?

“She skipped class! Her homeroom teacher said that the brat has not gone to school for three days!

“I work hard to pay for her classes, and this is how she repays me. She better not come back, or I’m never going to forgive her.”

You must be happy, Dad. I was never going to come back ever again.

My aunt snapped, “Enough! Jade has not gone to school for three days, and I can’t reach her. Shouldn’t you be worried about where she went?

“No matter what, she’s yours and Mary’s daughter. Didn’t Mary ask you to take good care of her before she died? Is your heart made of ice? Your own daughter has not contacted you for three days, and you’re not asking after her. How can you call yourself a father?”

As my aunt spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Upon seeing how my aunt acted, my father could not say anything else. He just scoffed and sat down in his chair before he started reading a report.

At that moment, his assistant suddenly ran over.

“Mr. Smith, we have a new discovery! Come!”

My father got up. “Lead the way!”

Before he left, he said to my aunt, “Stop caring about that brat and leave her to her own devices.”

He shut the door and left my aunt crying inside.

I wanted to comfort her, but my hand passed through her body.

I could only sigh in resignation and float out.

When I came to the autopsy room, I saw my father reading a report with a stern expression.

I took a peek and saw that the police found the corner of a poker card in my stomach. It had the letter A.

I left that in intentionally. At that time, I knew that I could not escape, so while my murderers were not paying attention, I tore up the “A” of that poker card and ate it to leave some evidence behind.

My father stared at the corner of that poker card, and his gaze turned increasingly colder.

“A,” he mumbled.

Suddenly, he remembered. This killing method was really similar to a case he cracked five years ago.

At that time, there was a deranged serial killer who would stuff the corner of a poker card into his victims’ mouths after he killed them.

If it were not for my father, he would still be a free man.

At that moment, my father saw some black substances on the poker card.

When he inspected it, he found that it was coal!

I ingested it intentionally too to give them clues.

His assistant was puzzled and asked, “Why would there be coal on the poker card?”

My father stroked his chin. After some thinking, he came to a stark realization.

“Quick! Tell the team to search around the area for a coal mine!”

The assistant then understood. “That’s right! That way, we can find the scene of the crime!”

They had a new development in the case, and everyone praised my father.

My father laughed and pointed at my corpse. “The girl is the one who’s smart. She’s the one who is helping us.”

This was the first time my father praised me, and I felt flattered.

After searching the entire morning, the police called my father and told him that they might have found the scene of the crime. They found blood stains in an abandoned coal mine six miles away from the eastern suburban area of Zolepolis.

My father hurried over with his team.

When they arrived, they started searching slowly.

Suddenly, a room caught my father’s attention, and he approached it.

When I saw the room, my heart leaped into my throat. I was dismembered here.

Once he stepped in, the strong stench of blood made my father cover his nose.

My blood was everywhere on the dilapidated floorboards.

Two rats were on a wooden bed. They were chewing on some ropes that were stained with my blood.

One sharp knife was stuck in the bed.

That was the tool they had used to cut me up.

At that moment, I saw a strange look in my father’s eyes.

I looked over and saw what caught his attention—a small object under the wooden bed.

Once I saw what it was, I was shocked.

Wasn’t that my name tag?

It had my name on it!

It seemed like my father had finally discovered that I had been murdered.

He walked over, and every step he took felt like a blow to my heart.

As he drew closer to my name tag, I held my breath. It felt like my heart was about to leap out of my mouth.

But at that moment, the rats on the bed were shocked and scurried down the bed. They nabbed my name tag and ran out.

My father was stunned by this, but he did not chase after them. He just shook his head and sighed.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry about this.

At that moment, my aunt suddenly barged in.

Her face was pale, and she looked really worked up. “Quick, Lucius! They found Jade’s school uniform outside!”

Both of us were shocked.

When my father saw my school uniform, I noticed his expression change, but he soon composed himself. “That’s impossible. Nothing could have happened to her. It can’t be her!”

He walked over and picked up my school uniform. A small hair clip fell off it.

My aunt saw it and immediately recognized it as mine.

“That’s Jade’s hair clip!” she cried out. “I gave it to her as a birthday present last year!

“Is she… dead?”