Free Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark Page B

me she was graduating from NYU next year and still deciding what she wanted to do. She said her father and brother were doctors but becoming a medical doctor wasn’t right for her. She said that more and more she was thinkingof going for a master’s in social work but she wasn’t sure. She was going to take a year off after college and then figure out the next step.”
    â€œDidn’t that seem to you to be a lot of personal information to impart to a stranger, Mr. DeMarco?”
    Nicholas DeMarco shrugged. “Not really. Then she thanked me for the drink and went back to her friends. I would say she was at my table for less than fifteen minutes.”
    â€œWhat did you do then?” Ahearn asked.
    â€œI finished dinner and went home.”
    â€œWhere do you live?”
    â€œMy apartment is on Park Avenue and Seventy-eighth Street. However I recently bought a building in TriBeCa and have a loft apartment there. That was where I stayed Monday night.”
    Nick had debated about furnishing that information to the police and decided it was wiser to put it on the table immediately.
    â€œYou have a loft in TriBeCa? None of your employees told us that.”
    â€œI don’t share my personal investments with my employees.”
    â€œIs there a doorman in your building in TriBeCa?”
    He shook his head. “As I told you, my apartment is a loft. The building is five stories high. I own it and have bought out the leases of the tenants. The other floors are now unoccupied.”
    â€œHow far is it from your bar?”
    â€œAbout seven blocks.” Nicholas DeMarco hesitated,then added, “I am very sure you must have most of this information already. I left the Woodshed shortly before eleven o’clock. I walked to the TriBeCa place and went to bed immediately. My alarm went off at five A.M. I showered, dressed, and drove to Teterboro Airport. I took off at six forty-five, and landed in Charleston at Charleston Airport. I teed off at the club at noon.”
    â€œYou did not invite Ms. Andrews to stop in for a nightcap?”
    â€œNo, I did not.” Nicholas DeMarco looked from one to the other of the detectives. “From the news reports I heard driving in from the airport, I know that Leesey’s father has posted a twenty-five-thousand-dollar reward for any information leading to her whereabouts. I intend to match that sum. More than anything, I want Leesey Andrews found alive and well, primarily because it would be horrifying if anything happened to her . . .”
    â€œ Primarily? ” Ahearn said, taken aback momentarily. “What other reason do you have to want her found?”
    â€œMy second very selfish reason is that a great deal of money has been spent buying the property on which the Woodshed is situated, renovating the premises, furnishing and staffing it. I wanted to create a safe, fun place for young people and not-so-young people to enjoy. If Leesey’s disappearance is traced to an encounter she had in my club, the media will hound us, and within six months our doors will be closed. I want you to investigate our employees, our customers, and me. But I can promise you that you’re wasting your time if you think I had anything to do with that girl’s disappearance.”
    â€œMr. DeMarco, you are one of the many people we are and will be interviewing,” Ahearn said calmly. “Did you file a flight plan at Teterboro?”
    â€œOf course. If you check the records, the flying time down yesterday morning was excellent. Today, because of the nearby storms, it was somewhat slower.”
    â€œOne last question, Mr. DeMarco. How did you get back and forth to the airport?”
    â€œIn my car, I drove myself.”
    â€œWhat kind of car do you drive?”
    â€œI usually drive a Mercedes convertible unless for some reason I’m carrying a lot of baggage. Actually my golf clubs were in my SUV, so that was what I drove