Higgins Clark_WhereAreYouNow

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speaking, he nodded.
The door from the bedroom was open. Kate Carlisle had spent a sleepless night, and now after napping
briefly, she saw them leaving, with Barrott s hand firmly under the doctor s arm. Dr. Andrews, are you
all right? she asked anxiously.
Dr. Andrews is going to his son s apartment, Barrott explained. I ll be back and forth. Kate, do you
by any chance have a more recent photo of Leesey? The one I ve seen that was in Dr. Andrews s wallet
is more than a year old.
Yes. I have a good one. I took it only last week. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were walking in SoHo
with their kids, and the paparazzi were all around them. I told Leesey to pretend she was a movie star,
and I snapped a couple of pictures of her with my cell phone camera. One of them is a terrific shot. She
was planning to have it framed for you, Dr. Andrews. Her voice broke. Flustered, Kate ran back into
the bedroom, opened a drawer in a night table, grabbed a print from it, and hurried back to them.
In the photo, Leesey had struck a model s pose, her smiling face turned to the camera, her long hair
tossed by the breeze, her slender body almost slouching, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her
denim jacket.
Barrott s eyes traveled from the lovely girl in the center to the passers-by in the background. None of
the faces was clear. Was it possible one of them had noticed Leesey? he wondered. A predator on the
prowl?
I ll get this enlarged, he thought, as he took it from Kate. This is a very clear picture of Leesey, he
said. I also want you to give me a print of the other picture you took of her. From what I understand,
she was wearing a denim jacket the night she went to the club. She s wearing a denim jacket in this
picture.
She was wearing that same jacket, Kate said.
She bought it two years ago, just before her mother died, David Andrews said. It has a skirt she
wore with it. Her mother laughed and told her that the skirt had strings hanging off it. Leesey told her that
was the style. Her mother said if that was considered style, it was time to bring back the hoopskirt.
I sound maudlin, David Andrews told himself. I m holding up this detective from finding Leesey. I ve got
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to get out of the way here. Kate, that s a good picture of Leesey. Anyone who saw her could identify
her from it. Thank you very much.
Without waiting for her to answer, he started for the door, grateful for the strong hand under his arm. In
silence he walked down the three flights of stairs. He was vaguely aware of a camera flashing and
someone shouting questions at him as he crossed the sidewalk and was helped into a squad car. He did
remember to ask Detective Barrott what else he would do to try to find Leesey. Barrott closed the car
door and then leaned down to the window.
Dr. Andrews, we ve already canvassed the people in this building. We know from the security camera
here that Leesey didn t get to this door but these houses all look alike. She might have gone to the wrong
one. We re going to start door to door, working the whole neighborhood. It will help to have her
picture.
Why on earth would she go to the wrong door? She didn t have too much to drink, you told me that
yourself. The bartender and all those other people in the Woodshed swear she was fine when she left that
place, David Andrews reminded him sharply.
It was on the tip of Barrott s tongue to reply that, unless it can be proven otherwise, ninety-nine percent
of bartenders will swear that a missing patron left the bar sober. Instead he said, Doctor, no stone
unturned. That s my promise to you.
The single reporter on the scene stuck a microphone in Barrott s face as he turned from the squad car.
Look, Barrott said, impatiently, Captain Ahearn is holding a press conference at five o clock. He s
authorized to give a statement. I m not.
He walked back into the lobby of the building, waited till he saw the reporter and cameraman get into
their van and drive away, then came back out and walked to the next building. Like most of them on this
block, the outer door was unlocked, and admittance was gained either by a key or being buzzed in by a
tenant.
Barrott s eyes moved up and down the tenant list, then they widened as he spotted one name, Carolyn
MacKenzie. Six degrees of separation? he asked himself. Maybe.
Roy Barrott stood perfectly still, then traced his index finger over Carolyn MacKenzie s name.
The unerring instinct that made him such a superb detective was telling him that somehow, someway
there was a connection between the two cases.
12
After I left the apartment building where Mack had lived, I went back to Sutton Place. In the day and a
half since Mom had made the decision to go on the cruise, she had been energized, as if after living so
long in limbo, she was trying to make up for lost time. She told me she was planning to go through closets
and pull out clothing to give away, and then this evening she would be meeting Elliott and some other
friends for dinner.
I wondered why she would bother to clean out closets just before she went on vacation, but that
became evident. Over a quick lunch, a sandwich and a cup of tea in the breakfast room, she told me that
she was listing the apartment with a broker and that as soon as she came back she was going to look for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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