21st Century Necromancer

After obtaining vital clues and directions from Chen Yu, Misumi Mikoto and Tokairin Yuko did not delay and, dragging Kube Rokuro with them, quickly hurried to the police station to find Officer Maori, who was frantic over the case.

Although Miyoshi Yoko had only been a minorly famous photo idol at first, for the entertainment industry, even if she had been just a minor photo idol who couldn't even rank among the third-rate ones initially, the occurrence of such a bizarre case with the victim being a once relatively well-known figure naturally attracted all major entertainment magazines like sharks to blood, and they covered the story extensively.

The police capturing a suspect based on DNA evidence found at the scene, only for the suspect to have a perfect alibi, struck a chord with these entertainment magazines. They were ecstatic, rampant with baseless speculation, acting as if they all morphed into Reiwa Holmes, just short of stepping up and directing the police on how to crack the case.

In such circumstances, social attention and public pressure were all focused on the police, and from the top-down hierarchical pressure within the police system naturally fell on Officer Maori, who was responsible for the case, with his superiors even setting a deadline for solving it.
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If he could solve the case smoothly and on schedule, preserving the police's dignity and image in front of the major media, then all was well—commendations and a raise were to be expected, and even a promotion for Officer Maori wouldn't be out of the question.

Although he had already reached the peak in terms of police rank as a career officer, the police system had many other positions, some of which were lucrative and specifically designed to reward meritorious officers.

Of course, that was all predicated on solving the case—if they couldn't...

Officer Maori was well aware of how the police system dealt with such people internally. He once had a colleague who, having made a mistake, was now on a remote island off Hokkaido as a patrol officer, where a ferry came once a week and there were only fifty or so households, a true getaway from the world, in every sense cut off from society.

So when Misumi Mikoto found him and told him there was new progress in the case, Officer Maori was naturally overjoyed. He quickly took them to the detention room to meet Yamada Yonegoro, who was being held there.

"Who are you?" Yamada Yonegoro looked at Officer Maori and the group, including the equipment-laden Kube Rokuro, with confusion on his face.

Yamada Yonegoro's frustration at being caught up in this ordeal, being detained as a suspect by the police for no apparent reason, is understandable; along with that came fear and dread. After all, the DNA taken from the scene matched his own upon examination; even with an alibi, there was still a chance of conviction.

Although the maximum sentence for murder in Japan is forty years without the possibility of reduction, this meant essentially spending the rest of his life in prison for the middle-aged Yamada Yonegoro.

At that moment, a group that looked somewhat like doctors but not quite entered the room, approaching him with intents that Yamada Yonegoro couldn't decipher. Out of curiosity and a sense of foreboding, he speculated wildly—had the police finally grown impatient and decided to give him a truth serum?

"We are from the UDI Research Institute," Misumi Mikoto said as she took various instruments out of the box Kube Rokuro had brought in, preparing syringes and needles. She explained to the pale-faced Yamada Yonegoro, "Mr. Yamada, you underwent a bone marrow transplant seven years ago, didn't you? We were unaware of this before, so now we need to take your DNA again and re-identify it."

"Eh? Bone marrow transplant? Re-identify? What exactly is going on?" Yamada Yonegoro, upon hearing Misumi Mikoto's statement, was taken aback and couldn't figure out what was happening. Could there be a connection between bone marrow transplants and DNA identification?

"Human bone marrow transplantation involves transplanting hematopoietic stem cells to rebuild the hematopoietic and immune system. Since the DNA in the transplanted stem cells comes from the donor, once they take effect in your body, the donor's DNA gradually replaces your original DNA," Misumi Mikoto explained to Yamada Yonegoro while bringing the prepared instruments before him. "From the current situation, it's likely that the person who provided the hematopoietic stem cells committed the crime, and your body's DNA was overlaid by the DNA within the stem cells he provided, thus why your DNA was detected at the crime scene."

Upon hearing this, Yamada Yonegoro finally understood what was going on, but new doubts arose as he asked Misumi Mikoto, "Then, in that case, why was I the one caught by DNA matching, and not that person? Even if my DNA changed, it shouldn't be that the DNA matching results point to me, should it?"

"Regarding that..." As Yamada Yonegoro expressed his doubts, Officer Maori touched his nose and began to explain, "The DNA matching work was assisted by Tokyo University Medical School Hospital, which used records from the national healthcare system to conduct the comparison.

Our country's establishment of a DNA database is also a recent endeavor, so it's very likely that it is your current DNA that has been entered into the DNA database.

As for the other person's DNA records, if he lived frugally and seldom visited the hospital due to good health, there's a high probability that his DNA record is absent from the DNA database. After all, the coverage of this database is not very extensive, and we have encountered situations where we couldn't find any data."

"So you're saying that because I often went to the hospital for check-ups, I ended up leaving records and data there?" Yamada Yonegoro, after hearing Officer Maori's explanation, was at once amused and dismayed. Because of his favorable economic status, he had annual medical check-ups, which had ironically implicated him; facing such truths and facts was almost too bitter to cry over.

However, as the conversation went on, Yamada Yonegoro's mood relaxed somewhat, and he became less fearful of the gleaming needle in Misumi Mikoto's hand. But then he remembered another important matter and quickly asked Misumi Mikoto, "You're a doctor, right? Doctor, I want to ask, if my DNA has been overlaid, will it affect my children?"

"This..." Misumi Mikoto blushed slightly but still explained earnestly, "If a considerable amount of time has passed, it's possible that your sperm's DNA could also have been replaced. Theoretically, your children, conceived with your wife after your DNA was replaced, carry, in terms of DNA, the donor and your wife's DNA, not your own. If you are concerned about this, we can check your sperm's DNA for you."

"Please make sure to check it for me!" Yamada Yonegoro begged Misumi Mikoto earnestly, as his youngest son had been born just two years ago.