John kept the pistol in his hand for several seconds after Barry finished speaking.
The man standing outside his apartment had introduced himself as a Central City CSI, brought enough pizza to feed a small team, and announced that John's former lover was a Manhunter created by the Guardians of the Universe. He had then calmly explained that another one was probably still out there.
It was difficult to decide which part of that introduction deserved the most suspicion.
"Put the gun away," Barry said, glancing at the weapon. "I'm not going to attack you in your own apartment, and I'd rather not have this conversation with you pointing a pistol at my chest. It makes the whole thing feel unnecessarily hostile."
John studied him before stepping back from the doorway. He lowered the weapon but didn't put it away immediately.
"You have a strange idea of introducing yourself to people. Most people start with a phone call, especially when they're investigating something that involves a classified extraterrestrial organization."
"I considered calling, but I figured you might not answer. Based on the reception I've received so far, that was probably a reasonable assumption."
John gave him a flat look, then finally turned away from the door. He retrieved the pizza boxes from the floor and carried them inside, leaving the door open while Barry followed him into the apartment.
"Don't mistake the pizza for an invitation to start treating this place like your office," John said. "You get to explain yourself, and then I'll decide whether I want anything else to do with you."
"Fair enough."
John placed the boxes on the small table near the kitchen and set his pistol beside them. He didn't sit down until Barry had taken the chair opposite him. The television remained muted, displaying another report about Hal Jordan's imprisonment.
Barry glanced at the screen before returning his attention to John.
"I've spent the last few weeks going over everything recovered from Rushville. Security footage, military recordings, eyewitness accounts, the damage at the motel, and every available piece of evidence connected to Zoe. I've been looking at how the incident unfolded from beginning to end, and something about it doesn't sit right with me."
John folded his arms. "You're going to have to be more specific. Rushville was a disaster, and most of what happened there still doesn't make sense to me."
"That's exactly the problem. The whole thing was too easy."
John's expression tightened, though he remained silent.
Barry leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "I'm not saying the damage wasn't real or that the people who got hurt weren't in danger. I'm talking about the way everything happened. The Manhunter was powerful enough to cause that much destruction, yet the final confrontation ended with it apparently being destroyed. There were too many unanswered questions, too many gaps in the sequence of events, and not enough evidence to explain why it ended the way it did."
He paused, organizing his thoughts carefully. He couldn't tell John about the System, and he certainly couldn't explain that his suspicion had been reinforced by an objective that had appeared in front of his eyes. He needed an explanation that stood on its own.
"From what I've seen, it almost looked as though the Manhunter wanted to die. That doesn't make sense to me. A creation designed to carry out its purpose shouldn't simply throw itself into a situation where its destruction becomes inevitable, not unless something else is going on."
John looked toward the television, where a photograph of Hal had appeared beside a headline about the investigation.
"Maybe Zoe had a reason to stop. Maybe whatever she was doing became too much, and she decided she'd had enough."
"That's possible," Barry acknowledged. "I'm not ruling out anything about Zoe's intentions. But even if she wanted to die, that wouldn't explain everything else. We don't know whether the Manhunters have a failsafe, whether there's some mechanism that activates when one of them is destroyed, or whether Zoe was carrying out a plan that required her to be removed from the picture."
He let that settle before continuing.
"There's another possibility. Zoe's destruction might not have been the end of the operation. She could have been one part of something larger, and if that's the case, then someone or something else could still be out there carrying on what she started."
John's jaw tightened.
"Another Manhunter."
"That's what I believe. I don't know who it is, where it is, or what it intends to do. But the evidence doesn't convince me that Rushville was the end of this."
John leaned back, studying Barry with a guarded expression. The explanation was reasonable enough to follow, but it also revealed how much work the stranger had already put into the investigation.
Barry continued, "I've narrowed my attention to three people. Billy Macon, Kerry Kane, and Noah Macon. All three have backgrounds that, on paper, point toward ordinary human lives. Their records, their connections, and the available footage make them worth investigating, but none of that proves any of them is involved."
Barry moved the folder toward John.
"There's a reason these three names keep appearing together. Billy Macon is Zoe's stepson. His father, William, married her, which makes Zoe part of the Macon household. Billy married Kerry Kane, and they have a son, Noah."
John's eyes settled on the photographs.
"That's the Macon family. William owns half the town, Billy handles the legal side of the family business, and Kerry is the sheriff. They're not exactly people you can investigate without someone noticing."
"Which makes their connection to Zoe interesting. William had the resources to protect her. Billy had access to the family and its affairs. Kerry had the authority to control investigations and decide what happened when outsiders started asking questions." Barry tapped the folder. "And Zoe had a personal connection to all three of them."
John leaned back, his expression becoming guarded.
"Kerry's connection goes further back than her marriage. Zoe saved her life years ago, when Kerry was running from people who wanted her dead. Kerry owed her, and Zoe made sure she understood that one day she'd have to return the favour."
"Which means Kerry wasn't simply Zoe's daughter-in-law. She had a personal obligation to her long before she became part of the family."
"Exactly. And if you think Kerry would casually betray Zoe, you haven't been paying attention to how she operates."
Barry considered that. "Then I need to understand what that obligation meant in practice. Did Kerry protect Zoe because she believed in her, because she felt she owed her, or because she knew what Zoe really was?"
John's expression hardened.
"That's the problem with Zoe. She could make you feel like you understood her while keeping the most important parts of herself hidden. I was involved with her, and even I didn't know everything."
Barry let the silence sit for a moment before looking back at the photographs.
"Then I'll start with the family. Billy, Kerry, and Noah. I want to know what each of them knew about Zoe, what they did for her, and whether any of their actions make sense when viewed alongside what happened in Rushville."
John looked at Noah's photograph, then at the others.
"Just remember something, Barry. These aren't strangers you can question and walk away from. You're stepping into a family that's been protecting its own secrets for years."
"I'm aware of that."
"No," John said, his voice firming. "I don't think you are. Kerry is the sheriff, Billy is William's son, and Noah is their child. Whatever Zoe was doing, she was tied to all of them. If you start pulling at one thread, you might find the entire family pulling back."
Barry closed the folder.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not planning to pull just one thread."
He met John's gaze.
"So, are you going to help me or not? Because the way I'm seeing things, I'm going to need an extra pair of eyes."