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

On 12 May 2003, at a routine antenatal appointment nine days before my due date, I was found to be already in labour. Like many first-time mothers, I’d had it all planned out – the music I wanted to play, the snacks I’d have to hand, the cooling mist spray for my face – but in the event I was whisked straight into the maternity unit and until Gerry was summoned I didn’t even have the customary pre-packed overnight bag. When it came to it, though, I wasn’t interested in any distractions, just completely focused on the job I had to do. As Gerry offered words of encouragement, I rocked from side to side, biting down on the gas-and-air mouthpiece. It occurred to me that I must look like Stevie Wonder. It’s strange the things that go through your head when you’re in extremis.

There’s no escaping the fact that giving birth is bloody painful, but I was a very calm, quiet ‘labourer’, oblivious to everyone and everything around me. Fortunately, it was uncomplicated and pretty quick, as labours go. I remember finally feeling the head crowning and saying something pathetic to the midwife –‘It’s stingy,’ if memory serves. Stingy? I never was one to make a fuss, I suppose! And then out popped our baby.

After years of longing for this day, here we were: parents. There can surely be no greater moment in anyone’s life. And here she was: not our little boy, but our little girl. I’m not sure quite why this came as such a big surprise to us – after all, there are only two flavours – but because it was a surprise, the moment was extra special. Our daughter was perfect. A beautiful round head, no marks, and not at all squashed. Big, big eyes and a lovely, compact little body. The most wonderful thing I had ever set eyes on. I loved her instantly. Of course, Aidan was out of the frame now. Of the girls’ names we had in mind Madeleine was my favourite, and Madeleine she became. Madeleine Beth McCann. She screamed straight away (something we’d get used to over the next six months). Gerry’s sister Trish called while we were still in the delivery suite. ‘Is that your wean?’ she asked, with a hint of amusement, on hearing the 200-decibel screeching in the background. ‘Jesus!’

I couldn’t take my eyes off Madeleine. I thanked God over and over again for bringing her into our lives. Every time she looked even vaguely in my direction, the tears welled up. I’d never known before that it was possible to love someone so much – and I love Gerry a lot, believe me. My Madeleine.

I didn’t sleep at all during my first night as a mother. I still couldn’t stop looking at my beautiful daughter. Admittedly, the fact that Madeleine was testing the extremities of her vocal range for a large part of it might have been another factor. I remember one of the midwives coming into my room a couple of times and asking if I would like her to take Madeleine away for a while so that I could get some rest. Take her away? That was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t care about sleep. All I cared about was being with Madeleine.

The next evening, my mum and dad, and my old friend Nicky, arrived to meet our daughter. My dad confessed to pushing a hundred on the motorway to make it down from Liverpool before the end of visiting time – but you didn’t hear that from me. He was an old hand at childbirth, having been one of the first-ever fathers at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, where I was born, allowed to stay with his wife throughout her labour instead of being ejected from the ward to pace the corridor outside. By all accounts, Granny Healy was shocked at this outrageous newfangled idea.

The new grandparents were besotted with Madeleine from the beginning. Having lost her own mother so early, I think my mum missed having her support when I was small and it had always been a sadness to her that I hadn’t known my nana better. So having the chance to take care of her own granddaughter, and to be there for me, meant a great deal to her. As for my dad, he once told me that if he were able to design his own granddaughter and have her knitted for him, Madeleine would be it. ‘I think I might love her even more than I love you,’ he added. I wasn’t too sure whether that was intended as a compliment but, knowing how much he loved me, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Gerry’s parents, and his brother and sisters, came hot on the heels of mine, all of them thrilled to bits.

The dramatic impact that one small person can have on your life never ceases to amaze me. Suddenly, your whole world revolves around this little bundle, and you don’t mind in the slightest. The overwhelming love and protectiveness you feel towards your child makes you incredibly vulnerable – probably as vulnerable as you have ever been since you were a baby yourself. Now, however, you understand that this is a vulnerability that will never leave you.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

[For research and study only]

ABOUT THE BOOK

‘The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts … My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth …

Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal, intimate and emotional aspects of our lives. Sharing these with strangers does not come easily to me, but if I hadn’t done so I would not have felt the book gave as full a picture as it is possible for me to give. As with every action we have taken over the last four years, it ultimately boils down to whether what we are doing could help us to find Madeleine. When the answer to that question is yes, or even possibly, our family can cope with anything …

What follows is an intensely personal account, and I make no apology for that …

Nothing is more important to us than finding our little girl.’

Kate McCann, May 2011

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

As you rightly say ....

Addendum:

‘It is a sad fact that not a single police force anywhere is proactively looking for Madeleine (as is the case for many other missing children). I am sure this book will re-energize the search for our daughter and the public will get behind the Find Madeleine campaign once again.

It is simply not acceptable that the authorities have given up on Madeleine – especially when no comprehensive review of the case has been undertaken. Our daughter, and whoever took her, are out there. We need your help to find them.’

Gerry McCann, May 2011

The McCanns Did Not Physically Search for Madeleine

~~ A lady from an apartment across Rua Dr Gentil Martins, overlooking our little side gate, came over to speak to us. She said that the previous night she had seen a car going up the Rocha Negra – the black, volcanic cliff that dominates the village. There was a track leading to the Rocha Negra but nobody remembered ever having noticed any vehicle that far up in the daytime, let alone at night. This immediately conjured visions of Madeleine being disposed of somewhere on the overhanging cliff. I went to tell one of the police officers who was able to speak a little English. He was quite dismissive. It would have been one of the GNR men checking the area, he said.

~~ I also felt a compulsion to run up to the top of the Rocha Negra. Somehow, inflicting physical pain on myself seemed to be the only possible way of escaping my internal pain. The other truly awful manifestation of what I was feeling was a macabre slideshow of vivid pictures in my brain that taunted me relentlessly. I was crying out that I could see Madeleine lying, cold and mottled, on a big grey stone slab. Looking back, seeing me like this must have been terrible for my friends and relatives, and particularly my parents, but I couldn’t help myself. And all this needed to come out. I dread to think what it might have done to me if it hadn’t.

~~ That first weekend I’d felt a burning desire to run up the Rocha Negra, and Gerry and I would in fact do so many times over the next few months. In places it was just too steep and I had to slow down to walking speed, but if I dared to stop (interpreted by my brain as failure) I would mentally beat myself up. It still felt as if every challenge had to be met on Madeleine’s behalf. I wouldn’t recommend such mind games: they certainly don’t make life any easier. But as Gerry will readily confirm, I can be quite stubborn, though I’d prefer to call it determined.

~~ The meeting ended with a final body blow. Danie Krugel, on whom we had, irrationally, hung so much hope, had produced a report for the PJ based on his findings. His machine had recorded a ‘static signal’ from an area around the beach, close to or on the Rocha Negra cliff. Although this included villas, apartments and other buildings, the implication of the ‘static signal’ was that Madeleine was most likely to be dead and buried there.

~~ Picture Credits: The Rocha Negra, pictured early one morning on my mobile phone from ‘my rocks’ on the beach.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

[For study only}


Praia Da Luz Beach Rocha Negra Stock Photo

CLOSING THE CASE

As the summer of 2008 approached, the investigation into Madeleine’s abduction remained classified and Gerry and I remained arguidos. It was like trying to lead our lives in purgatory. At some point – who knew when? – the PJ were going to have to hand their evidence to the prosecutor for examination and he would decide whether to file charges against us, order the PJ to continue the investigation or ‘archive’ the case, which would mean it would stay on file but all active inquiries would cease. In the meantime, fuelled by the customary leaks, speculation in the press about what would happen when rumbled on.

At the end of June, Gerry and I made the difficult decision to take a break. It did not feel right at all to go on holiday without Madeleine, but fourteen unbelievably harrowing and stressful months had passed since she was taken and we were running on empty. We owed it to Sean and Amelie, and we owed it to Madeleine to be physically and mentally fit to go on looking for her. We needed peace and quiet, and to be as far away as we could from the clamour in Europe. So we opted to go and visit Auntie Norah in Vancouver. Clarence told the press firmly that the timing and destination would not be disclosed.

Canada was the perfect choice. We all spent five days of our holiday in a cabin on a remote lake in rural British Columbia. It was an idyllic place, surrounded by forest, tranquil and unspoiled, with nobody there but us – and possibly a few bears and moose. Of course, there were tough moments. The solitude emphasized the yawning gap in our family, but that is with us always, wherever we are. Sean and Amelie absolutely loved their adventure and it was wonderful for Gerry and me to be able to spend so much time together with the children.

Perhaps it was too much to expect our trip to remain completely secret. One night, back in Vancouver, Gerry was woken by a phone call from a DC Johnson of the Leicestershire police, wanting to fax us some information. Gerry told him that we didn’t have access to a fax machine and suggested emailing us at our usual address. DC Johnson said it wasn’t that important, he could drop it off when we were back, and asked when we were leaving.

Gerry told him and we went back to sleep.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

[For that moment]

"It was an idyllic place, surrounded by forest, tranquil and unspoiled, with nobody there but us – and possibly a few bears and moose.

"It felt so safe ....

Kate McCann

Was it a reservoir - with a dam

'Of course, there were tough moments'. Your daughter has been 'abducted', possibly raped, and is in some hellish lair in lawless hills.  Your lives should have been destroyed - but 'tough moments' in an 'idyllic place' is the worst you suffered?. You are inhuman.

Poetic licence gone Mills and Boon

FRIDAY 4 MAY

Friday 4 May. Our first day without Madeleine. As soon as it was light Gerry and I resumed our search. We went up and down roads we’d never seen before, having barely left the Ocean Club complex all week. We jumped over walls and raked through undergrowth. We looked in ditches and holes. All was quiet apart from the sound of barking dogs, which added to the eeriness of the atmosphere. I remember opening a big dumpster-type bin and saying to myself, please God, don’t let her be in here. The most striking and horrific thing about all this was that we were completely alone. Nobody else, it seemed, was out looking for Madeleine. Just us, her parents.

We must have been out for at least an hour before returning to David and Fiona’s apartment, where Sean and Amelie were now up and about. The twins, distracted by having Lily and Scarlett to play with, didn’t mention Madeleine, mercifully. Russell, Jane, Matt, Rachael and their children began to arrive. People kept telling me to have some breakfast but I couldn’t eat. I had no appetite and my throat was constricted with anxiety. In any case, how could I think about eating now? There wasn’t time to eat. Someone had Madeleine and we had to find her.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

[For clarification only]



Evidence for the prosecution

They went for a run and left David Payne to wake up the two remaining McCann children, take them to the toilet, clean them afterwards,  get them out of their pyjamas, wash and dress them, . . .  ? ? ? ?
SERIOUSLY ?

Insane and creepy behaviour from the McCanns and Payne.  Awful people.

Another version of the truth..

Gerry McCann - Arguido Statement 7th September 2007

--- When questioned, he says that on that night he made several phone calls, including calls to two sisters, a couple of Kate's uncles, his brother or certainly sent him a message, father P. S. who baptized Madeleine and married G. and K. When questioned he says he did not get in touch with any media and does not know if anyone did. In the morning his family did contact the press. G. spoke of contacting the press, however he never did so.

--- When questioned he says that he did not request a priest, but to Kate to seek spiritual help.

--- Regarding the disclosure of Madeleine's photograph, he says that he gave the authorities a photograph from a digital camera, and he thinks it was Russell who printed it at the main 24-hour reception of the complex. He made the delivery thereof, or of these pictures on A4 paper to the Police, and he is sure he never delivered any of these photographs to GNR.

--- When asked why instead of scouring the land next to the complex they stayed inside the apartment, he replies that it did not happen that way.

While the guests and employees of the resort were searching, he went to the main Reception to check whether they had called the Police, and told Kate to wait inside the apartment. After going to the Reception he went back to the apartment where he stayed in the living room and in their bedroom.

THE BOOK
As we continue the analysis of the evidence, we are inevitably drawn back to Kate’s book, written either by herself alone, with assistance of a ghost writer, or wholly by a ghost writer.  We may surely assume that for a book of this importance the manuscript or proof would have been submitted to lawyers to ensure there was nothing self-condemnatory, to press relations agencies to ensure the correct “spin’ was preserved, to the ‘Fat controller’ [qv.] to ensure that the official “story’ was not being inadvertently undermined, and almost certainly to the Tapas 7 to ensure they were not inadvertently compromised.
We focus again on a salient point in the ‘story’.

People have remarked on Kate’s and Gerry’s remarkable failure or refusal actually to search for their daughter on the night in question.

Kate records it in the book – so it must be true . . .

QUOTE
“Back in the apartment the cold, black night enveloped us all for what seemed like an eternity. Dianne and I sat there just staring at each other, still as statues. ‘It’s so dark,’ she said again and again. ‘I want the light to come.’ I felt exactly the same way. Gerry was stretched out on a camp bed with Amelie asleep on his chest. He kept saying, ‘Kate, we need to rest.’ He managed to drift off but only briefly, certainly for less than an hour. I didn’t even try. I couldn’t have allowed myself to entertain sleep. I felt Madeleine’s terror, and I had to keep vigil with her. I needed to be doing something, but I didn’t know where to put myself. I wandered restlessly in and out of the room and on to the balcony. At long last, dawn broke.   
McCann, Kate. Madeleine Transworld Digital. Kindle Edition.” (p. 81).           REF 1
Kate ‘kept vigil’ for Madeleine, - again we have observed that this is a tradition afforded to the dead on their first night after death for various religions and superstitious reasons, as well as being a good way of foiling body-snatchers, and perhaps above all of ensuring that the person is question was not merely in a deep coma, and that by the morning the temperature of the body had fallen below a level consistent with continued existence. . .  and stared at a candle flame whilst Gerry slept.

In the chapter in question. Ch 8, Kate uses the word ‘Dark’, no fewer than 6 times.

She wants us to believe that search was useless because of the dark.  Because it was night time.

Strangely the 100 or so holiday makers and staff who joined the GNR police officers and searched through the night found themselves under no such constraints.   The street lights were working, and the Police officers and some people may be supposed to have brought flash-lamps.

But then there was the moon.

The skies had cleared by about 8pm, on 3/5/7 the weather front with the heavy cloud bank which had ruined their holiday for the four days from the Sunday evening drifted off to the west and the sky was clear.  This much is evident not only from meteorological reports and charts and weather satellite images which uncritical believers refuse to engage with or understand, but also from the many photos, timed and dated, on Flickr and other internet sites as well as first hand contemporaneous accounts from a locally based British ex-pat whose previous career was inextricably involved in observation of weather.

The sky was CLEAR, and there was a ‘full’ moon.
Sunset on Thursday 3/5/7 was at 2022. 
Civil twilight ended at 2050
The moon rose at 21:53 on Thursday 3/5/7, and set at 07:23 on Friday 4/5/7

(It was in fact a ‘waning gibbous’ Moon.  Astronomical Full moon was the night before. (2/5/7 - 3/5/7), except that the 100% cloud cover prevented people’s seeing it).  But to the naked and untrained eye it was a Full moon.  To the trained astronomer like Gerry McCann’s brother-in-law, ‘Quicksand Tony’, the tiniest sliver of the western edge was now in darkness.   99.6% of the moon’s earth-facing surface was illuminated.  It would have been very bright and cast shadows on the ground in places where they were not obliterated by light from the street lamps.   Almost bright enough to read a newspaper by, a phenomenon with which we are all, surely familiar.  

It was, in short, NOT dark.   And certainly not so dark that frantic parents would not at least try, or pretend to try, to search.

But Kate insists it was Dark.

All of this is of course freely available to any who believes that Kate’s and Gerry’s account is unequivocally True, and contains nothing but the objective facts.  But of course those who ‘believe’ will not trouble themselves with researching or considering the objective facts.  That is part of the issue.

The moon-set on 4/5/7 was at 08:05
Sunrise on 4/5/7 was at 06:36
Civil twilight on 4/5/7 began at 06:08                         REF 2

Ponder that for a moment. There is a huge bright full moon which is still in the sky reflecting the light of the sun, and is still there when the sun itself ‘comes up’.  One in the west, the other in the east. 
Even ignoring the presence of the moon, Civil twilight began at 06:08 on 4/5/7.  
Civil twilight, for those new to the term, is what we used to call ‘lighting up time’ for motor vehicles. To half an hour after sunset and from half an hour before sunrise.  The sky is light all over, but the sun is still below the horizon.   One can read a newspaper outside under the open sky, the sky is light blue, and colours are clearly visible.  In lay terms it is ‘daylight’,  Street lights switch off.

But Kate insists it was Dark.

not only their version of the dark night, but after leaving block 5 and also on their return, they never took the chance to ask the police officer that was near 5a, if there maybe was some news. something that is a usual almost addictive behavior when parents have a missing child and seeing a police uniform. 

and it is easy to tell what you supposed to have done, but from every angle, all they done that first evening, night and the days after, nothing falls within even pretty width margins of  'typical or likely behavior for parents of a missing child'. 

start from a child that died and they know that, they start raking the points in. their other behavior and expressions are pretty normal in the margins humans have, so it can hardly be a special unique personal trait.
not only in one person, but both. 

they did never really tell during interviews they have been searching that first very early morning by their standards. they have been spotted on their return around 07.00 hours, so they have been outside. 
but it was not in the forefront of their mind as having been searching, when asked if they did search, or what they did. 
they had visibly to think about that question, that is a big why. it is in the book, so it can not be a secret affair of course. otherwise it would not be there. the expected answer would have been like; 'of course we searched, as soon as we could go out, we did search.' 

it must be the same category of searching as the looking under beds in 5a, that had no access to the underside for a child, or for eyes to look under it.

19th May 2007

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

On Saturday 19 May we all went down to the beach with Fiona, David and their kids. We built sandcastles, ran into the water with Amelie and Sean and played near the hire boats with them. It was a scene that must have seemed so ordinary to any casual observer, but underneath it ran that unshakeable unease that denies me any peace even today. I fretted, too, about what people who recognized us might be saying. ‘How can they possibly be playing on the beach when their daughter is still missing? There is no way I would be able to do that if it were me.’ A month ago, in their shoes, I would probably have been saying the same thing myself.

That afternoon, we’d agreed to see a photographer from the Sunday Mirror whose pictures would be put into the press pool for the other Sunday newspapers. Having our photograph taken for media purposes was and remains a difficult issue. Apart from the fact that it’s uncomfortable for us and often feels staged, how are we supposed to appear and behave for the camera? Smiling seems completely inappropriate in the circumstances, and even when it isn’t, for example, when we’re playing with Sean and Amelie, as we were that day, it doesn’t stop people criticizing us. ‘Look, they’re smiling – they don’t seem bothered at all, do they?’ Of course, if you don’t smile, you are labelled ‘cold’ or ‘stony-faced’. You can’t win.

At least on this occasion the pictures were fairly natural, showing us engaged in normal activities in the apartment that we’d have been engaged in anyway, and the photographer was very nice, but, to be honest, it all felt a bit naff, for want of a better word. Reflecting on it now, I’m not sure why we agreed to things like this. I suppose it was part of keeping the papers ‘on side’: if we ‘gave’ them something, it would help maintain Madeleine’s high profile. Journalists were always telling us it was important for the general public to see that we were a very ordinary family. The jury’s still out on that argument, I think. What I do know is that trying to maintain the balance between our privacy and the media’s appetite for the ‘human-interest’ angle was very tricky. We were still quite naive back then, especially me, and it would be a little while yet before I began to gain a sense of their priorities. This dilemma has always been at the heart of our difficult relationship with the media. Much as we shrank from the intrusion, we needed them to keep Madeleine in the public eye.

We had also been asked if we would be filmed watching Jon’s Madeleine DVD, which was to be shown again later that day during the FA Cup final coverage. We declined. Now that definitely would have felt staged.

Two weeks into our ordeal, if anything the media attention seemed to be increasing. Apparently, Sky had three anchors in Praia da Luz. The BBC sent out Huw Edwards. ITV dispatched Sir Trevor McDonald, who did a one-hour special from the village. Everyone wanted the first interview with us – there were direct approaches from the BBC and from ITV, in the form of a handwritten note from Sir Trevor – and it seemed the broadcasters were relying on their big guns to get it. We were simply not ready at that point to do such interviews. Gerry was also worried that once we did, the interest would begin to wane and with it the spotlight on Madeleine.

[For reasons only]

OUR ordeal!

Yes, it's astonishing.

The novel starts with an introduction .... About Myself, next About Gerry, next About madeleine. Last on the list of importance.

Without reading the book in full from one end to the other, scattered across the pages, it's incredible to see how Madeleine is always the afterthought - if thought of at all .

madeleine by KATE MCCANN is certainly en exhibit for the prosecution. It's like a confession only revealed in the confines of priesthood.

'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.'

In the film Kind Hearts and Coronets, the last survivor of the D'Ascoyne family is caught out by his memoirs, as he languishes in prison. It may be fiction, but one can dream..

Foreword

Dealing with Madeleine’s disappearance has been almost all-consuming, leaving us little time or strength to address these further crimes against our family. The appalling loss of our daughter has been too much to bear. Everything else, however huge, has had to take second place. There is only so much pain human beings can stand at once. It doesn’t mean the injustices hurt any less.

On the whole Gerry and I have managed to dig deep and remain focused, although the temptation to shout the truth from the rooftops has always been there. There have been many times when I have struggled to keep myself together and to understand how such injustices have been allowed to go unchallenged over and over again. I have had to keep saying to myself: I know the truth, we know the truth and God knows the truth. And one day, the truth will out.

Yet publishing the truth is fraught with risks for our family. It lays us open to more criticism, for a start. We have discovered that there are those in society who will always criticize. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do or why you are doing it. We don’t know what motivates these people (although I have a few theories). In the early months, I found such censure incredibly upsetting and sometimes overwhelming. Our beloved daughter had been stolen from us, we were suffering terribly and I could not begin to comprehend why anyone would want to add to that pain.

As time went on, I was able to shoulder it a little better, either by trying to understand why people did it (unfair as it was) or by simply trying to ignore it. These detractors didn’t care about Madeleine, so why torture myself by even listening to them? We’ve met many wise people along the way who have stressed the importance of not being derailed by those with their own agenda. It has proved to be good advice.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

Disclaimer: Please believe responsibly.

Continued..

Although writing this book has been a time-consuming and, at times, heartbreaking experience, it has been made a little easier by the fact that I have kept a daily journal since towards the end of May 2007.

This is something that would not have occurred to me. It was suggested by a man I met in the course of the innumerable meetings Gerry and I had that month with experts helping us to negotiate the emotional and practical minefield in which we found ourselves. I am for ever in his debt for this advice. Initially, it seemed a good way of keeping a record for Madeleine of what happened in the days she was away from us, but writing everything down turned out to be immensely therapeutic for me. It provided me with a release valve for my thoughts and extreme feelings.

It was a place where I could shout what I was unable to shout from the rooftops. And it gave me a means of communicating with Madeleine.

My journal was also to prove invaluable when Gerry and I later felt it necessary to quash claims made about where we were and what we were doing at various times. Now it has been pressed into service once more as the basis for much of this book. It has enabled me to recall with clarity my innermost reflections at periods when my whole life was clouded by despair, and it is the reason why I have been able, four years down the line, to be so precise about the timings of particular events.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

Disclaimer:

More ?!?

Six months later, our beloved Madeleine was grabbed from her bed.

Of course, none of these children was abducted and these crimes may be completely unrelated to what happened to Madeleine. We do not know who has taken our daughter and for what purpose. What these cases do demonstrate, however, is that British tourists in holiday accommodation were being targeted. At the very least, the possibility of a link between these incidents and Madeleine’s disappearance should have been investigated.

It is so hard not to scream from the rooftops about how these crimes appear to have been brushed under the carpet. The authorities have known of them for a long time and yet the perpetrators, as far as the families are aware, remain free. But we can’t shout about them. Children are involved and they need to be protected. We are extremely grateful, however, to their parents for having the courage and compassion to share their experiences with us to try to help us find our daughter.

These atrocious offences occur all around the world, of course, not just in Portugal. But if individual countries do not acknowledge and deal with them thoroughly, they will multiply. Unless these criminals are tracked down and punished, and measures are put in place to stop them, not only will they continue to offend but others will flock to what they see as an easier milieu for their activities, eager to take advantage of weaker laws and laxer attitudes.



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

Disclaimer:

She drops herself in it repeatedly. 'Shout the truth from the rooftop', 'I know
it happened under different circumstances' (I could have misquoted that).What 'it' does she mean?

Disclaimer - please drop yourself in it responsibly.

I've just read 'Leave no stone unturned', didn't realise I was repeating posts from others on that thread!

The night of 3rd/4th May 2007

Meanwhile, desperate for God’s intervention, for ourselves and for Madeleine, I asked the resort staff if they might be able to find a priest to come and pray with us and support us.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN



Divine intervention?