Dinner seating of the Tapas 9

They left the apartment between 8:30-8:35PM, and headed straight for the Tapas where they arrived 1 minute later maximum. None of the group were at the Tapas because they were usually the first to arrive, but she isn't sure this was the case every night. There was a couple there who they knew, S and C xxxx who belonged to Gerry's tennis group. They talked with them for a few moments before sitting down. Meanwhile, while they talked to S and C the rest of their group arrived and sat down at a round table, where they sat every day. Order of arrival: Kate and Gerry, Jane alone, Mathew and Rachel, Russell, and then she thinks David, Fiona and Diane. She makes a sketch of the table and says that both she and Gerry were not facing the apartments. Sketch attached.

Bird131 wrote:Thanks Verdi, 'onehand' and others, I understand that it may not seem important as to whether or not the table was round. Is there just one photo that shows the group seated at their Tapas table or tables?

THE REPORTS LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED

The examination of the premises by the investigator and the representative of the forensic police just after the announcement of the disappearance turns out to be quite unproductive. A concise report, where their observations are written up, is accompanied by numerous photographs taken inside and outside apartment 5A - which don't give an account of, according to us, everything they could have observed. This error is explained by the absence of procedures in case of a child's disappearance, notably concerning the actions to be taken when examining the scene.

Lots of people were already in place; however, nobody appeared in the photos. We don't know, for example, how they were dressed. Such observations can turn out to be important later on.

The Truth of the Lie - Gonçalo Amaral

She remembers that last Tuesday at the end of the quiz, she was invited to the table of nine guests who asked her to join them for a drink.

She was at their table for about fifteen to twenty minutes and it was there that she met Madeleine's father, who directly invited her to the table, however, she does not know whether Madeleines mother was also there.

When questioned, she said that they talked of banalities and she did not notice any aspect or behaviour that was out of the ordinary.
When questioned, she said that during the time that she was there Madeleines father did not leave the table, neither did any of the other guests, however, during this time one of the chairs was always empty, that of someone who had had dinner and left, not managing to indicate any identifying element about this person.

Tony Bennett wrote:Some time in 2007, I think after September, Bridget O'Donnell, partner of Jez Wilkins, wrote a  curiously titled article on the Guardian: 'My months with Madeleine'. 

It included this paragraph :


Some of the parents were in a larger group. Most of them worked for the NHS and had met many years before in Leicestershire. Now they lived in different parts of the UK, and this holiday was their opportunity to catch up, to introduce their children, to reunite. They booked a large table every night in the Tapas. We called them "the Doctors". Sometimes we would sit out on our balcony and their laughter would float up around us. One man was the joker. He had a loud Glaswegian accent. He was Gerry McCann. He played tennis with Jes.

In spite of what we’d been told about booking the Tapas restaurant, Rachael managed to get a table for nine at 8.30pm pencilled in for the rest of the week after having a word with the receptionist at the pool and Tapas area.

Kate McCann

A little later, near the sun-loungers at the Tapas end of the swimming pool, some of our group were discussing whether to cancel our dinner booking in the evening and take the kids to the Millennium instead.

We’d heard that another couple we’d met had tried unsuccessfully to book a table at the Tapas restaurant and we wondered whether it was fair of us to be taking over the place. Although the restaurant was accepting other reservations, our party of nine occupied most of the available places and I, for one, felt rather guilty about that. H

owever, when someone pointed out that we’d be gone by Saturday whereas this family was staying on for another week, it didn’t seem quite so unreasonable, and we decided to stick with our original plan. Another of those apparently trivial decisions

Refusing to acknowledge what I already knew, and perhaps automatically going into a well-practised medical-emergency mode, I quickly scoured the apartment to exclude all other possibilities, mentally ticking boxes that I knew, deep down, were already ticked. I checked the wardrobe in the children’s room. I ran into the kitchen, throwing open all the cupboard doors, into our bedroom, searching the wardrobes, in and out of the bathroom, all within about fifteen seconds, before hurtling out through the patio doors and down towards Gerry and our friends. As soon as our table was in sight I started screaming. ‘Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!’ Everyone seemed frozen for a split second, perhaps unable, as I’d been, to process this information. Then they all jumped up from their chairs and ran towards me. I remember Gerry saying, ‘She must be there!’ By now, I was hysterical. ‘She’s not! She’s gone!’

Everybody sprinted back to our apartment, except for Dianne ...