Catharsis III: Round Three

I Killed Her

"We're sorry, sir. We did everything we can to save her, but she was brought here too late. She already lost a lot of blood. Excuse me," the doctor said.

I nodded mindlessly, there's no point in having an outburst right now. That won't bring her back to me. That won't bring back my Sarah back to life. I started to cry, punching the concrete wall with my right fist while my left hand's clutching a piece of paper that was found in Sarah's room – the crime scene – in our house.

I went to fix Sarah's funeral. It felt weird that I've got to arrange my daughter's funeral, she should be the one to arrange mine for me. I was supposed to die before her. I swear to God that I would put the man who killed her behind bars and serve justice for my daughter.

That's what I always do. Catch culprits, put them behind bars and stop criminality in the city. Those are one of the many responsibilities of a policeman.

But before those, I would like to mourn for the loss of my daughter. . . the only I had.

Sarah was my only daughter, her mother died when she was giving birth to her. She was a college student taking up Computer Sciences.

She was everything I had. Everyday since she was a child, I worked day and night just to provide for her and supply her wants. I worked hard for her to have a perfect life. Right now, I don't know what to do. . . or what's left to do for me. . . or why I should stay alive.

"Sarah," I called her name. I knew she couldn't hear me when she was already lying down inside the coffin, a transparent glass separating her from me.

Her face was peaceful just like always. She really looked like her mother, they both look perfect.

I placed a chick on top of the coffin and tied a white ribbon around my forehead, a common tradition here at our place during funerals.

"I promise I'll give you justice. I'll punish the one who did this to you."

I looked at her face one last time and went inside my study and gathered all the evidences that was left in the crime scene.

I never entered her room after she died. I had my men inspect the area and describe how the crime scene looked like. The murder weapon, the wounds on her body, and the pieces of paper placed on her hand.

According to one of my men, Sarah had three stab wounds – one on her left leg, one on her abdomen and one on her left chest. I almost puked when I tried to imagine how Sarah was killed.

I read the note on the piece of paper that was found on her hand, it was written in blank ink and there were droplets of blood that smeared the piece of paper:

DAD. HELP ME.

8-666 2-555-555 6-999 444-2-888-666-777-444-8-33 7-555-2-222-44-7777

- 8-44-33 4-555-666-9-444-66-4 8-777-33-33

What the hell was that? Was that a contact information of someone? All I could read was that she needed help from me. But what kind of help?

I fished for my phone to call one of my smartest men to research of intel that would help me in this one. But before I could dial his number, I looked at the keypad of my cellphone for a moment, paused, and then looked back at the piece of paper.

"Sarah, my smart girl. You and your codes," I smiled a little, stood up and went to one of the public parks in our small city. Where one of her favorite places is located... The glowing tree.

The sun was already down when I reached the park. This park is called 'Enchanted Woods' for the trees here are designed with colorful lanterns. But Sarah's favorite is located at the heart of the forest, the tallest and oldest tree around. It is called the glowing tree.