CH4: GENETIC CHIMERA

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"He is telling the truth when he said he had never raped nor killed anyone." Korede responded.

"As I thought." Babatunde said, hearing his son's response. "He even has an alibi for the suggested time of death of victims. Everyone interviewed only had good things to say about him. To the extent that everyone, even our Agents, believes he's innocent. But then how is it possible for his semen to be on the female?"

Korede didn't say anything. He just reread the case file. When he was done, he placed his hand on the desk and repeatedly tapped it with his index finger while his gaze grew unfocused. Seeing this, Babatunde knew his son was deep in thought. Whenever Korede was thinking deeply about something, he would tap any nearby surface with his index finger or fold his arms and tap his left arm with his right index finger. These were habits he probably picked up from himself and his elder brother. Babatunde didn't say anything and simply poured himself a cup of tea while he waited for his son's thought.

'The man being interrogated is not lying. That's what my instinct is telling me.' Korede thought. 'He is far too agitated for someone who shot at a crowd, raped someone, and killed five people. It's more like someone who is being persecuted for a crime they had no idea of. If it was just a single homicide, I would be inclined to say he was acting. However, someone who planned a mass shooting, rape and five murders? It doesn't fit. But if he is innocent, how did his semen end up on the victim?'

Korede started to picture the event in his mind according to the information he had been given and started a deduction. 'Not much evidence was left behind at all crime scenes except for the semen, this suggests that while the assailant isn't a professional hitman, he put a lot of thought into his planning and execution. He also had a lot of rage and hatred for high society but rational enough to know who his enemies really are while having firearms training of some sort judging from the way he fired his gun into the crowd. His shooting stance is not military or even paramilitary, hence we can rule out security and defence forces. That leaves us with private security and bodyguard services. This rules out the suspect.'

At this point, Korede stopped tapping his finger. He stared at the files in front of him for a while without actually focusing on anything in particular. He started tapping his finger again as he continued his deduction, 'if it wasn't the suspect, how did his semen get on the victim's body? A mistake in the lab? A DSS crime lab? No! They would have checked and rechecked their result especially with dad's and everyone's doubt. Then was it planted? That's unlikely either. There are easier ways to frame someone than to use their semen not to mention how difficult or maybe impossible it is to plant semen to frame someone. Besides, the lab would have been able to tell if it was a plant. Then if he is innocent, how did his sperm get there?' Frustration could be seen on Korede's face as the tapping stopped and he rubbed his head wildly.

He looked at the lab result again and just then his eyes caught the result statement. It read 'DNA found in the evidence sample was matched to a Mr. Ayobami Ifelodun'. For some time, his intuition kept telling him the solution to the puzzle was in this sentence. He repeated it over and over again until finally, something clicked. He looked up to face his father and asked him, "Dad, I have an idea of what's going on but I need to see the suspect's medical history. Every time he had entered a hospital or any medical centre, I need to know what he did. It's important. I might even be able to get you a viable suspect."

Although he doesn't know what his son is thinking, he knows he would find out soon. One of the privileges of being the DG of DSS is that he can access the national database from his home computer with his security clearance level. He was able to quickly find the information Korede asked for. He turned his laptop to his son and waited for his findings.

Korede scanned through the document. After a while, his eyes caught something, "There it is, I was right." Korede said in a low voice.

"Did you find something?" His father asked

However, Korede's response was something his father did not understand, "Genetic Chimera!"

"What do you mean?" Babatunde asked his son. It was then Korede came back to his senses. He saw the confusion in his father's eyes and decided to explain his deduction.

He explained, "Dad, the key here is the statement at the bottom of the lab result. 'DNA found in the evidence sample is a match for a Mr. Ayobami Ifelodun'. The lab result does not say the semen belongs to Mr. Ifelodun. Merely that his DNA was found in the semen."

While Babatunde had questions, he just kept silent and listened knowing his son would eventually explain.

Korede continued, "Therefore, what if the semen isn't his but the person the semen belongs to, actually carries Mr. Ayobami's DNA. I know it sounds impossible but it is, actually, possible. There is a phenomenon that occurs where, for some reason or the other, a person carries the DNA of another in them. This phenomenon is referred to as a Genetic Chimera. A chimera is a mythological creature made up of multiple animals. Its popular depiction is an animal with the head of a lion; the body of a horse; a snake, usually a python, for its tail; and has wings of an eagle.

In the same way, a person may have, in addition to his own DNA, the DNA of another. Such a person is a Genetic Chimera. If a DNA analysis is done on samples from such a person, the result might not be that of his own DNA but rather that of the other DNA in his body. I believe the person who committed the crime is a Genetic Chimera carrying Mr. Ifelodun's DNA."

Babatunde Balogun took a deep breath in other to digest his son's deduction. "Do you have any proof that can back up your claim?" He asked, not because he doubted his son after all Korede studied medicine and holds a double degree in trauma surgery and gynaecology, but because the deduction was just theory to others without proof?

"Of course" Korede answered confidently. "The answer is in the document I requested."

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]

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