Last time I made the mistake of just burying you. This time... there won't be anything left to bury! 
- — Darryl Frye
The Flash (Volume 4) #29 is an issue of the series The Flash (Volume 4) with a cover date of May, 2014. It was published on March 26, 2014.
Synopsis for "Digging up the Past, Part 3"
Having just been discovered by The Flash surrounded by murdered coworkers and wielding a bloody pickaxe, David Singh claims that he merely found them that way, and had picked up the weapon to defend himself against the killer. Barry believes him, but he can't help but wonder if it was his curiosity that brought about all this death.
Deadman suggests that he can find out what really happened by possessing David, but Barry warns him not to, uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy. Instead, he rushes over to the security monitors, and sifts through the tapes at high-speed until he confirms that the killer was someone else. The ghost of Ulysses Sutter is still out there, using the advantages that modern science and a police lab can provide to track down everyone in the Fletcher line, and murder them by jumping from body to body. The spirit can only inhabit others' bodies for a short time, but if he ever found someone of his own bloodline to possess, he could inhabit that body permanently. Unfortunately, Sutter has discovered through the CCPD's computer system that Darryl Frye, the man who practically raised Barry, is Sutter's last descendant.
Rushing to Darryl's house, Barry is surprised to find James Forrest there, disoriented. From James, he learns that the spirit brought him to Darryl's house, but that Darryl hadn't been home. However, Darryl had left a note for the Keystone Killer challenging the spirit to meet where they'd last met.
Back at the station, Barry explains what he learned to Patty Spivot in the hopes of learning more about the relationship between Darryl and Sutter. Barry intends to sift through Darryl's files to see what he can learn before Darryl ends up possessed permanently, but as he leaves, Patty warns that she may have evidence that Darryl is Barry's biological father - which means the spirit might be able to permanently possess him. Barry is disturbed, but shrugs it off, refusing to bank on speculation. He is unaware that her evidence is far from speculative. Darryl is a nearly 100% match for Barry's DNA. It isn't until Barry comes upon a file regarding Barry's paternity results that he realizes that Patty was telling the truth.
Darryl, meanwhile, meets with the ghost at the site of Ulysses Sutter's death, hoping to end this curse once and for all. He challenges the spirit to possess him, and then, once it is inside him, he pulls the pins from several grenades hideen on the inside of his coat, hoping to blow both himself and the ghost to smithereens. Barry, though, arrives just in time to rip the grenades from Darryl's chest, and save his life. Unfortunately, Barry's arrival gives Sutter new options for possession, which prompts Deadman to drop the House of Mystery from the sky in the ghost's path. Though he tries to lure the ghost inside, he is unsuccessful, and Barry becomes impatient, allowing the ghost to enter his body.
However, Barry begins to vibrate at such an intense speed that the spirit can't find purchase within him, and is trapped. Just like he had been able to kick Deadman out of his body on the previous night, Barry has the ability to repel Sutter's ghost, and he traps Sutter within the House of Mystery.
Afterward, Darryl reveals that he isn't Barry's biological father. He merely doctored the records in order to trick the spirit into thinking he was the last descendent instead of Barry. As much as he loved Nora, he had never crossed the line, and when she died, he did what he felt he needed to do to keep her in his life, and that was raise Barry as his own. Privately, Barry warns Patty that it was his obsession with finding his mother's killer that brought about all this tragedy, and she explains that this should be a sign to him that his obsession is dangerous, and he should back off of the case.
Later, at Iron Heights, Darryl pays a visit to Henry Allen, and ensures that as hard as Barry might try, neither of them can ever tell Barry about who really killed his mother.
Appearing in "Digging up the Past, Part 3"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Henry Allen
- Archibald Dean (Mentioned only)
- Marshall Fletcher (Mentioned only)
- Nora Allen (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Central City
- 4575 Carmine Way
- CCPD Headquarters
- Keystone City
- House of Mystery
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in The Flash: History Lessons.
- Archibald Dean was originally called Archibald Dylan, in The Flash Vol 4 27.
Trivia
- Capt. Frye lives at 4575 Carmine Way in Central City. The street name is an homage to Carmine Infantino.