Nothing To Fear ....

Council Of War

         As the group waited for Chief Potter to arrive , Jenny , Crane , and Jake Wells clustered at the end of the dining - room table , looking over the two journals , while Joe , Jake Pitts , and Alex transferred the footage from their cameras to the computer for later inspection . The others either sat or paced until they all heard the sound of a vehicle turning into the drive . Ashley and Andy , who were nearest the window , flipped back the curtain to see Potter and Gibbs exiting the car , along with an elderly black man who walked with the aid of a cane .

        Andy jumped up from his seat and opened the door before Potter could even ring the doorbell , allowing the three visitors into the house .

       "Thank you , Mr . Biersack ." , Chief Potter said , and Gibbs gave him a nod as they allowed the older man to pass them and make his way to a chair . As everyone else moved back to the living room , she said "Folks , this is my uncle , Bert Johnston . Like I told you before , he was on the force when the last set of murders happened ."

       "It's nice to meet you , sir ." , Diana said as she shook his hand and introduced herself . "Do you prefer Officer Johnston , or simply Mister ?"

       "Actually , it was Lieutenant when I retired , but Bert will do nicely , young lady ." , the older man said with a smile .

       Potter then introduced her uncle to the others , and everyone seated themselves around the room , as Crane approached the older man with the journal that Jon had found earlier .

       "We found this journal during our exploration of the abandoned house down the road , sir . We were hoping that you might read the final entry , and perhaps enlighten us further on the events mentioned therein ." , he stated politely .

       "Kind of a fancy talker there , aren't you , young fella ? You almost sound like a college professor ." , Bert chuckled .

      "As a matter of fact , I taught at Oxford for a time before I left England , sir ."

      "Well , I guess that explains it , then ." , the elderly man replied , before turning his attention to the book .

       He perused the book for several minutes before closing it and saying , with a deep sigh , "Well , now I guess we know how inoffensive little Greg Horton became a multiple murderer . I always kinda wondered if it was something like that ."

      Everyone in the room looked in amazement at the old man , causing him to burst out laughing . "I'm guessing by those expressions that you all expected me to write this off as the scribbling of a lunatic , right ? Well , you never met my wife's momma . That woman did things I still don't understand on more than one occasion , so I'm not nearly as skeptical as most of my colleagues were . There's things that don't belong in this world , and nothing good ever comes of having truck with 'em ."

       "You won't get any argument from us ." , Alex informed him . 

       "Did you know any of the people he mentioned there ?" , Diana inquired .

       "Knew all of 'em . Town this size , everybody knows everybody ." , he replied . "Knew some of 'em better than others . The first two were a couple of no - goods named Billy Jones and Homer Gwaltney . Hadn't thought about them in years , 'til the other day . Almost makes you think that there's something to the idea of someone's personality bein' a genetic thing ."

       "What do you mean by that , Uncle Bert ?" , Chief Potter asked .

       He gave a short laugh , then replied , "Figured you woulda come across that in your files by now , Charlie - girl ! Homer Gwaltney had an older sister named Leda , who married a fella name of Don Soames . Homer was Frank's uncle , and just about as much of an asshole as his nephew . And it had to come from that side of the family , 'cause Don was one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet ."