Billy: A Tale Of Unrelenting Terror (22 page)
Read Billy: A Tale Of Unrelenting Terror Online
Authors: Clayton Spriggs
Greed, Lust, Revenge, and
Murder in a Medical School.
When Dr. Sarah Whitley entered the doors of the medical school, she thought the dream she had worked so hard for had finally come true. She had attained her first position as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy in a prestigious medical school in a uniquely historic city. Instead, what she found was the beginning of a nightmare that would change her life in ways she never imagined.
She had always looked up to the professors who had taught her throughout her education. They were 'all knowing'; they were never wrong; and they were well respected professionals - everything she aspired to be. It didn't take her long to discover that her new faculty colleagues were flawed human beings, driven by greed, ambition, and lust. And they all had one thing in common - fear. Fear of the powerful and ruthless, Dr. Roberts, the Head of the Department of Anatomy.
While all Sarah wanted was to concentrate all her efforts on becoming an effective lecturer and anatomy lab instructor, she inadvertently discovered the secrets hidden behind the closed doors of the offices and research labs of her fellow faculty - from the illicit affair between two scientists, to the sexual predator masquerading under the guise of a well-funded researcher, to the manipulative and double-crossing Department Head.
When compelled by Dr. Roberts to spend more time in the morgue, assisting with the embalming and preparation of the cadavers to be used in the medical school Gross Anatomy course, Sarah sees things that she shouldn't see. But asking questions could be dangerous...
The Dissector
Prologue
MEDICAL SCHOOL PROFESSOR MISSING
WHERE'S THE DOC?
You couldn't miss the headline on the front page of the Times-Picayune newspaper, and the story was featured on all three of the New Orleans television news programs - at least for a couple of days until something juicier came along. Several of the administrators of the Medical College of Louisiana were interviewed, but none of them had anything meaningful to contribute. They did, however, take the opportunity to praise Dr. Roberts for his leadership of the Department of Anatomy and for his years of service to the Medical College.
Gossip ran rampant among both the faculty and students of the medical school, and the rumors about what had happened to Dr. Roberts encompassed all possible scenarios - he was hit in the head and had amnesia; he was working for the CIA and had to go underground; he had run off to Tahiti with a Bourbon Street stripper; he was abducted by aliens.
Dr. Lily Roberts, the good doctor's wife, was even more mystified by her husband's disappearance than anyone. She thought they had been close. After all, they had been married for forty-two years. Sure, they had had some rough spots in their marriage, but that was years ago, and they had gotten over that. In fact, they had been talking about his retiring soon so they could spend more time with their children and grandchildren in Ohio.
She had been a little irritated when he hadn't called to tell her he'd arrived safely in Lucerne, Switzerland for the conference he was going to attend. But she had just chalked that up to the time difference and the possibility that he had gotten caught up in greeting colleagues he hadn't seen for years. After two days of no word, however, she called the police.
First, the police contacted the hotel in which Dr. Roberts had been planning to stay, but the hotel had no record of his ever having checked in. They then contacted the airlines and found that his scheduled flight from New Orleans to New York had left on-time, but he hadn't been on it, nor had he been on his connecting flight to Lucerne. Just to make sure that he hadn't changed his plans at the last minute, the police checked all flights leaving New Orleans on the last night he had been seen. They found nothing.
A full scale investigation ensued and the detectives from the New Orleans Police Department made it a point to talk to anyone and everyone associated with the Anatomy Department, from maintenance people to full professors. They found out that the last person to see Dr. Roberts was Mrs. Sanders, his Administrative Assistant. She had left at her usual time, she said, and Dr. Roberts had still been in his office doing some last minute work before catching the airport shuttle for his trip.
After checking with the shuttle service, they found out that the shuttle had indeed picked up several people from that location on the night in question, but the company couldn't find a list of passengers. The shuttle driver didn't remember picking up anyone fitting Roberts' description, but that didn't mean much, he said, because there were quite a few passengers that night and he really couldn't be sure.
The detectives ran Dr. Roberts' credit cards through the system, but none had been used since the day of his disappearance. His bank accounts hadn't been touched. Same for his cell phone records. No calls going out; just a long list of unanswered incoming calls, most from his wife's number.
Despite the early publicity and the efforts of the Police Department, no new clues emerged and the case quickly went cold. The detectives had to move on to more pressing issues, but they assured Dr. Lily that the case would remain open and they'd continue to follow any new leads.
For her part, Dr. Lily Roberts spent most of her days ping-ponging between deep despair, soul-wrenching anger, and unrealistic hopefulness. Where was Yancey?
Dr. Yancey Roberts, it seemed, had vanished into thin air.
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