Prosecution Exhibit 1: 'madeleine' - What's in the book?

Kate McCann wrote:Though I envied David and Fiona their sea view, being on the ground floor meant we didn’t have to worry about the children’s safety on a balcony.

Kate McCann wrote: We felt so secure we simply didn’t think it was necessary. Our own apartment was only thirty to forty-five seconds away, and although there were some bushes in between it was largely visible from the Tapas restaurant. We were sitting outside and could just as easily have been eating on a fine spring evening in a friend’s garden, with the kids asleep upstairs in the house.

miffy8 wrote:In their book Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her, mother Kate revealed how their ground-floor flat was a "prime" target for criminals.

Later, we were told by the British police that the ground-floor location, access to roads front and side, secluded entrance and partial tree cover made our apartment a prime target for burglars and other criminals. Never once did this occur to us when we arrived. As far as we were concerned, we were in a safe, family-oriented holiday resort.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

PeterMac wrote:After Sunday it is stated the Gerry AND Madeleine left by the front door
which means the three children could not be seen together, and there was never an opportunity
for the entire family of 5 to be seen.

After Sunday it is stated the Gerry AND Madeleine left by the front door ...

Secondthoughts2 wrote:If rear door is the side entrance with narrow staircase to the patio doors, how strange that Kate McCann would navigate a gate at the top and bottom of the staircase, and going down these steep narrow stairs with 2, two year old toddlers, onto a sloped narrow pavement, also a road where vehicle traffic passed along.  While Gerry McCann (and Madeleine?) left by the front door?

Would make more sense if the entire family left by front door, onto a flat paved area outside the front door, where a wall separated the little footpath from the car park.

This would allow the family, after locking the front door, to organise themselves in a safe fashion, take the kids hands, or carry them, for the onward journey.

Sometimes when things make no sense it's because that's not what happened.

Verdi wrote:Combing through the files, I despaired. It was only now that I became aware of just how cursory some of the police work had been. Vital questions had not been asked, alibis not verified, lines of inquiry left dangling or, at best, not adequately documented. There is no doubt that the police were overwhelmed, both by having to deal with a crime of this nature under such scrutiny and by the sheer volume of information pouring in. The systems and resources they needed simply weren’t there. I felt some sympathy with them over the challenges they faced, and it was clear that Paulo Rebelo, who replaced Gonçalo Amaral as coordinator of the investigation, had tried to make up for some of the initial inadequacies by checking back for anything that had been overlooked. But the discovery of each missed opportunity was another twist of the knife in my chest.

It was here I found the receptionist’s note in the Ocean Club staff message book explaining that we wanted to book the Tapas restaurant for the rest of the week because we were leaving our children alone in our apartments. I was dismayed. This was a glaring green light to a child-taker – and yet no mention is made of it in the files until December 2007. December 2007! Seven months after Madeleine’s abduction! I could only conclude that its relevance had not been appreciated by the police.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

Jonal wrote:This is interesting, I have been trying to trace what she meant by the note in the 'staff message book' becoming an entry in the files in December 2007 after the point was made specifically in the RTE Late Show interview. From that quote I'm no wiser.

BTW, Verdi, where in the book is this quote? It's not in my copy from 2011... I believe there are later editions (sans p129...)?

Kate McCann wrote:My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth. It has always been my intention to set down a complete record of what happened to our family, for our children, Madeleine, Sean and Amelie, so that, when they are ready, the facts will be there for them to read. I wanted to make sure they would always have access to a written chronicle of what really happened, no matter how many years have passed. They have already been through too much, and there will be further challenges ahead. Understanding our ordeal will give them the best chance of dealing with whatever life throws at them.

Kate McCann wrote:
I asked Gerry apprehensively if he’d had any really horrible thoughts or visions of Madeleine. He nodded. Haltingly, I told him about the awful pictures that scrolled through my head of her body, her perfect little genitals torn apart. Although I knew I had to share this burden, just raising the subject out loud to someone else, even Gerry, was excruciating. Admitting the existence of these images somehow confirmed them as a real possibility, and with that confirmation came renewed waves of fear.