tapas reservation sheets

I can't move the images from the locked ' tapas reservation sheets' section, could someone please do that? I have found some anomalies which I think merit discussion
thank you.

russiandoll wrote:
I can't move the images from the locked ' tapas reservation sheets' section, could someone please do that? I have found some anomalies which I think merit discussion
thank you.

I think you can copy and paste. I can do it for you, but do you want the whole of the page?

can't copy all the sheets there for some reason....would be grateful if you could do it. thanks Tigger.

I see what you mean, I can't get the sheets copied, I will try again.

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Saturday 28th April - tapas restaurant is closed on Saturdays

Sunday 29th April - has been witheld from the DVD

Monday 30th April - has also been witheld from the DVD

Saturday 5th May - tapas restaurant is closed

1/5
7.00
7.15	Mann (2)	Bullen (4)
7.30	Thornhill (2)	Totman (3)	Weinburger (4)
7.45
8.00	Foster (2)	Mackenzie (2)
8.15
8.30	Oldfield (2)	Obrien (2)	McCann (2)	Payne (3)
8.45
9.00
	missing 1 child
	missing 2 children
	missing 1 child
	missing all children
	party of 3 but booked for 4

2/5
7.00	Handy (4)	Naylor (3)
7.15
7.30	O'Donnell (2)	McCormick (3)	Weinburger (3)
7.45
8.00	Bulrton (2)
8.15
8.30	Oldfield (2)	Obrien (2)	McCann (2)	Payne (3)
8.45
9.00
	missing 2 children
	missing 1 child
	missing 1 child
	missing all children
	party of 3 booked for 4

3/5
7.00	Edmonds (4)	Mann (3)	Carpenter (2)	Bullen (4)
7.15
7.30	Patel (4)	Cox & Balu - cancelled
7.45
8.00
8.15
8.30	Irwin (2)	Oldfield (2)	Obrien (2)	McCann (2)	Payne (3)
8.45
9.00	Sperrey (3)
	missing 2 children
	missing all children
	party of 3 but booked for 4
	party of 2 but booked for 3

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Thanks admin. I will study the posting of photographs again. I have a mac would that make any difference?

Not sure tigger but Molly posted this in the Technical Help section [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I shall move this thread to the debate section now

Maybe nothing, but I was looking at a video where the McCanns were discussing the fateful evening and talking about how they nearly didn't go to the tapas bar to eat evening of 3rd, Gerry saying they weren't sure they would get in.

I haver read holiday reviews and it says [maybe changed since?] there would be a queue and it was first come first served. Then there was the block booking for the week made for the group....so why would Gerry say they were not sure of a table?

I was wondering, then, if there was childminding going on, as I believe, why would the remaining adults be restricted to eating at the tapas place each night? The tapas had to be used as part of the dining close to the apartments scenario, adults able to do checks but not so close they could see comings and goings and the abduction story was enabled.
So is it the case that there was an evening or maybe more than one, when they dined elsewhere with a babysitter in place for that evening?
Is it worth checking tapas employee statements again, maybe it will all be corroborated that the group were there every evening, but I think if I had a trusted babysitter I would probably be up for the short walk it would take to go and have a change of scene away from the complex, brochures and customer reviews state there were places to eat close by.
The reason I ask is that the reservation sheets look to be pre printed, yet there is a mix of printing and handwritten entries for the times. Some of the handwriting is different, the numbers are written differently and look as if more than one person has completed them, even though apart from the writing of some numbers, the names look to be written in a uniform manner.
I was looking at the first image, the sheet for Tuesday evening, 1st May and just wondered if anyone else found this sheet strange?

Look at 1st May, the capital R in the day on the date line heading that sheet, that R is repeated in the entries below it.
The times then I would expect to be uniform, but I noticed a difference in the numbers......1,7 and 8.
What I am getting at is has this sheet been amended and if so why? And what about the others? Are the same things occurring for the other evenings? If so why?
If the creche sheets had alterations to make people believe Maddie was there when she was not, could the same have happened to the tapas reservation sheets, to make people believe the adults were there every evening, when they were not? And what would be the significance of this?
Just a thought. Would really value some opinions!

Hi russiandoll, I see what you are suggesting re the group being able to go further afield if there was a sitter but feel they were so tight that they wouldn't have paid for a meal if one was included, so could have eaten at the Tapas and had all the inclusives then maybe moved on somewhere else for maybe more lively night spot. The Tapas place did sound a tad basic for high flying professionals where the highlight of the week was a quiz [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

why do the booking templates differ after 3rd May?
why does the handwriting before 4th May appear less continental in style than afterwards?
why are there English headings up to and including 3rd, then those that follow are printed in Portuguese?
and a weird one.... a restaurant booking form needs only a name[ maybe a contact number for practicality] and the number of persons booked under that name......all other bookings show name plus number of diners, apart from the McCann bunch on 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The couples are all named.

there is a drawing of a flower top right by the date.

Don't forget they also went to Chaplin's near the church - I believe Happy Hour started there more or less when the Tapas finished serving.

As for Gerry saying they almost didn't go - bit like saying you almost didn't join a cruise on the Titanic. It shows that they are victims of FATE!
It's amazing in your face cheek to say that , considering that they say the crying episode and Maddie asking them why they did not come was that very same day.

You can't make it up -

russiandoll wrote: there is a drawing of a flower top right by the date.

Hallo Russiandoll!

Textusa had done a great job in the past scrutinizing the reservations sheets. The information is there on het forum.

She remarked on the flower too: either a cover of something else which had to remain unseen; or a mark singling out that particular page.

Her conclusions: the sheets have all been doctored, (no pun intended).

As it seems, the creche records were too.

This begs some questions:

who saw the need to doctor the information/registration of the Tapasniks and their children;
when was this done
who did it
why did they do it

There may be many more questions, but these are just a few I could come up with within one minute.

for pointing me to that info, I will read it very carefully, as I was watching some videos yesterday and the one where Gerry spoke about nearly not going, not sure they would get in..........after a block booking, got me thinking.
well I thought they are called the tapas group, the entire abduction scenario [for which there is no evidence] hinges on the whole mantra of eating nearby, checking regularly, Maddie missing was discovered on a regular check..... and then I thought if the abduction did not happen, the whole set of circumstances around it may be part of the staging, tapas meals necessary to support the whole checking set up[ which is open to question].
Had not thought the booking sheets through before posting, simply thought they could have been amended, forged or totally faked. Hoped for peoples thoughts, now to find it has been explored in depth elsewhere is great.
They had to be there 3rd May, but the other evenings imo could have been just a part of the set up. I wish someone would tell me why even if booking sheets were handed in to police, a new template was used after 3rd. Would be interesting to see the template used before 28th April. I would have expected OC to have used and photocopied same template. The one before 3rd looks more like a doctor's booking in sheet with those intervals!...the neat 15 minute divisions........most folk book a meal in my experience on the half hour or the hour. It looks like rigid times were offered with almost military precision......where is the sense of holiday relaxation here? And why has that 15 minute set up gone after 3rd? The following sheets look like the creche bookings, diners simply noted within set opening and closing times.
Did someone say to prospective clients.you can have 7, 7.15, 7.30.....did clients not just ask for, as in most establshments, a table for 4 for example, at a certain time, then were offered an alternative if not possible?

And why was the McCann party the only set of diners not to have just a number by the booking?
I want to read the files to see when these were handed in, as it looks as if they were altered with the purpose of placing the entire group there at a certain time to assist the checking scenario.
There looks on 1st as if at least 2 hands were at work.

Were the kitchen orders ever obtained? A pretty big order for starters and mains plus drinks for a big table like theirs....
is there any proof they actually ate there every evening?

have heard about chaplins....never read any witnesses placing them there, but then where are the witness statements from the fellow diners at tapas.......surely the police needed to speak to them urgently to check on the checks?
sorry to go on, but I think there is something very wrong with these sheets!

There is a shed load about these sheets on textusa which I will have to read asap. I dont want to over -do the tapas sheets, maybe an innocent explanation for the strange appearance of those for 1-3 May, the little drawing instead of an asterisk to draw attention to the 3rd, but my gut instinct tells me these early ones are supporting "evidence" for the abduction.
There is no need to name other diners apart from the person booking, and if it was for a record that the McCann group were all OC guests then the other entries would be similar surely? I have never booked a table and had anyone ask me for names of my fellow diners, just as shown for all other diners on the tapas sheets........a name of whoever booked plus number in the party.
I believe the children were not left alone so the only thing about the group eating elsewhere is not more neglect due to distance......but the whole checking thing goes straight out of the window [ no pun intended]...the whole story comes apart.
The tapas thing was set up to embed this idea of routine imo.....day was creche for kids, run, tennis, relax for adults........kids evenings bath milk biscuits bed........drink of wine for adults then tapas. And then bang...the routine disturbed by a sudden catastrophe.
Well maybe it was tapas..maybe it was appetisers then off elsewhere. Want to re- read tapas bar employee statements...were they sure it was that party of people and every evening for 3 hours? The upping and downing to check kids makes me hear Benny Hill music.
I would like to know when these sheets were requested by police and when handed over. Was there time for them to be doctored or totally faked ?
I must re read those police files!

Hi Russian Doll

I think the PJ got hold of the tapas reservation sheets on 8 May. If you look at the page order for the pj files, they appear to be in chronological order. The tapas booking sheets sit at page number 605 through to 610 and these are surrounded before by statements taken 8 may and after by the checkin lists used by the TApas restaurant which were printed on 8 May.

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If the pj didn't take the forms until 8 may then it's not obvious why the sheets would have changed after 3 may..

The files also show a list of tapas bookings written on a slip of the water park - see page 613. These are written in the neat handwriting of the person who completed the first 3 tapas booking sheets. These bookings look to have been written up on the tapas booking sheet for 7 may - see page 614 - in the scruffier handwriting of the later tapas booking sheets from 4 may.

Maybe innocent explanations - person taking the bookings didn't have the form, so wrote it onto a scrap of paper then later it was transposed onto the tapas sheets..but might be something else going on...?

Had seen the water park sheet but forgot to mention it, the writing I agree does look as though it belongs to the person who did the tapas bookings for 1-3 May.
It is the times that struck me on those early sheets....the 5s, 1s and 8s are not from the same hand and I cant think why not. There is also a mix of printing and handwritten times. Something not right, but not sure what.

Was it established as fact that the tapas had to be booked at all ?

These dinner reservation sheets (if they haven't already been) need to go to a handwriting/document analyst imo.

I have spent the entire afternoon analysing these as a layman. There is something that seriously needs to be investigated by a specialist imo.

Before I start I apologize if I haven't got things in order but the more I look at these forms the more I see and want to write it all down before I forget or my brain melts. I'm only going to write a little of what I see as it's been a tiring few hours.

The booking sheet is at first glance a template. The heading 'TAPAS Restaurant' and Time as 7pm as 9pm and the line beneath it are consistent, as is the tippexed out times in the left hand column, so we can assume that it is done to photocopy as a blank form for completion. It's slightly odd in my opinion not to have completed the times (the 15 minute booking times) at the time of making the template but never mind.

Beginning with the left hand column with the times completed by hand, notice the differing '8's. There is a continentel 8 and an English 8. On the sheet for 1st May every entry of the number 8 is in the continental style. On the sheet for 2nd May every entry BAR 1 is a continental 8. The entry for 8.45 is an English 8. Which is strange anyway as there was no need to write 8.45. If you look up at the entry on this sheet for 7.45 the 45 is remarably similar. In fact, imo the number 4 is the continental style of writing. So we have an entry for 8.45 with an English 8 and a continental 45 almost identical to the 7.45 entry (which uses the continental 7).

On 3rd May every entry of the number 8 BAR 1 is the English 8. The continental 8 is exclusive to T9's reservation. I'm going to limit what I've noticed for now just to the entries for the T9. The first thing I noticed was the names are always in the same order and a friend of mine who has joined in today made the observation that when you place a block-booking and you're asked for the names, you'd likely give your own surname first. I assumed that as it was a regular booking the staff would just copy the first booking but it did make me think who had arranged the first booking. Anyway, here goes:

Just taking the 8.30pm entries.

1st May, the first entries are made in a person's handwriting which is clearly different from the handwriting on 2nd/3rd May at first glance - but it's NOT. I'll do it name by name.

1st May Oldfield...the letter F is the same as 'different' handwriting of the 2nd May. The letter F in the name Oldfield for 3rd may is clearly different, however the letter L for 2nd and 3rd May are almost identical, so we have a case of confusion here. All three entries also have marked similarity with the dot on the i veering slightly to the right. The E's are almost identical. The D's on 2nd and 3rd May are similar in the fact they have an upward flick but it looks forced to me as if copied. I think there has been copying here (but I'm not an expert so it's only my opinion).

I'm going to the name of Payne now because it's easier to get that out of the way. The letter A slopes to the left in every entry. The Y is almost identical and the NE at the end of the name is joined in every entry. The only thing that differs is the P.

Now to McCann or should I say McLann. Just look at how the second C is almost identical in every entry. The N's for the 1st and 2nd May are remarkably similar. The letter M is almost identical to every letter M written on EVERY SINGLE entry on the sheets (I'll get onto that later).

'On 2nd May the first booking for 7pm begins on the second line. It could be a tippex job. That seems odd to me, I would have thought a line through an entry with 'cancelled' more likely imo.

Now to Obrien. The i has the familiar dot to the right and the R is almost identical to EVERY SINGLE entry on the sheets.

Concentrating on 3rd May, there is a booking for Irwin. This booking is written above T9's. Below Irwin is listed Oldfield. Compare the size of the names Irwin and Oldfield to the next three entries, Obrien, McCann and Payne. Then have a look at the apartment numbers to the right. The spacing between each letter is so very different from the entries on 1st and 2nd May, as is the spacing from the column line to the right. If I were a cynical old sod I'd spot a cut and paste but as I'm not I'll just say what I see.

The next column 'the MW' is almost identical on every single sheet.

Now to 'mesma mesa' (I don't speak Portuguese but I assume this means a table together). IMO that is the same handwriting. the 'ma' at the end of mesma is joined.

I think these forms need to be given to a professional for scrutiny.

yesterday when I was looking through some videos of the couple and heard the passing remark of Gerry's about maybe not getting in [ a pre booked meal] I initially thought maybe the booking was cancelled [ cant Think why just now]. and then they had to just do what everyone else did, try to get a table....but I heard him using the word the tapas the tapas so much in another video it was like a mantra. will ttry to find it and post it.
I then started reading customer reviews and am still looking for some from that time to see how it operated. I just put tapas into the search box here and up came those sheets from Stella but it was a closed research topic.

It was the difference after May 3 that made me curious, then I looked at the writing and the numbers and saw that flower on the one for 3rd I immediately posted without going into the detail you have done.......
and then someone told me Textusa had written a lot about this issue and I am still reading....I havent read that blog for ages due to being here.....there is a lot to absorb it will take some time for me to read it all.
Am now going to re read your post. !

What happened to the note about children being left unattended that was supposed to be written in the Tapas reservation book?

dentdelion wrote:What happened to the note about children being left unattended that was supposed to be written in the Tapas reservation book?

As far as I know that has not been released, and it looks like the reservation sheets for 29th and 30th April have not been released according to Stella's posts and the files. 28th they state they ate at the Millenium.
Another thing pointing to these dates being of great significance to the police

dentdelion wrote:What happened to the note about children being left unattended that was supposed to be written in the Tapas reservation book?

I was looking for that as wondered where Kate would have seen it - can't see anything like that in the pj files.. so either Kate is being economical with the truth, they got a different set of files to those publicly available or she is exaggerating what is on the booking sheets.... The booking sheets have the name, room number then an indication of how many in the party - 2+2 means 2 adults plus 2 children....

So if I was feeling generous to Kate could say she exaggerated this booking sheet and the notation of how many children would be dining with the party... and she's trying to say from seeing the sheet an "abductor" could see that apartment 5a 2 adults would be dining but no children indicated on the sheet... presuming the "abductor" knew they had children and also knew that they weren't in the evening creche...then the abductor would know that the children would be alone in the apartment...... it's a very big stretch to believe that would be what happened.

I doubt they would have been given a different version of the pj files than those publicly available.... so my guess would be that there are some porkies being told to try and enforce the abductor -was-watching-ustheory and also put some blame onto the ocean club for leaving the bookings visible to all...

Stewie wrote:

dentdelion wrote:What happened to the note about children being left unattended that was supposed to be written in the Tapas reservation book?

I was looking for that as wondered where Kate would have seen it - can't see anything like that in the pj files.. so either Kate is being economical with the truth, they got a different set of files to those publicly available or she is exaggerating what is on the booking sheets.... The booking sheets have the name, room number then an indication of how many in the party - 2+2 means 2 adults plus 2 children....

So if I was feeling generous to Kate could say she exaggerated this booking sheet and the notation of how many children would be dining with the party... and she's trying to say from seeing the sheet an "abductor" could see that apartment 5a 2 adults would be dining but no children indicated on the sheet... presuming the "abductor" knew they had children and also knew that they weren't in the evening creche...then the abductor would know that the children would be alone in the apartment...... it's a very big stretch to believe that would be what happened.

I doubt they would have been given a different version of the pj files than those publicly available.... so my guess would be that there are some porkies being told to try and enforce the abductor -was-watching-ustheory and also put some blame onto the ocean club for leaving the bookings visible to all...

Hi Stewie,

I looked at the booking sheets today. I don't think from what I can see it wasn't actually a 'book'. It looks like a pile of make-shift forms that have been hole-punched (I admit the PJ could have hole-punched them and that's what we're now seeing) but even given that, if you look at the generic heading it definitely doesn't seem like a book to me.

am surprised no column on the sheets for special requests....on the 6th there is a column OBS, but not on earlier ones. I wonder what was in use the first night they were booked in, I would have expected the reason for the block booking Kate said she saw in the files to be written in this column.
About the McCann party being named.....probably for individual billing purposes.

russiandoll wrote:am surprised no column on the sheets for special requests....on the 6th there is a column OBS, but not on earlier ones. I wonder what was in use the first night they were booked in, I would have expected the reason for the block booking Kate said she saw in the files to be written in this column.
About the McCann party being named.....probably for individual billing purposes.

I think the paperwork recording has shown itself to be sloppy. The creche records that Stella is analysing aren't exactly 'professional'. As for Kate's comment re the reservation book well no big deal was made out of it. Why not go after MW or the Tapas restaurant and make a big deal out of it? because it would put the Mc's at risk of being held responsible for negligence. Just my opinion.