Kate and Gerry McCann, may you live in interesting times.

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Image from The McCann Gallery

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"May you live in interesting times," is reputed to be the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb or curse, though it may have originated with the English or the Americans. Wikipedia

It is said to be the first of three curses of increasing severity, the other two being:

• May you come to the attention of those in authority.

• May you find what you are looking for.
  

So, Kate and Gerry McCann, you already appear to be living out the first part of this three-fold ancient curse, which I hasten to add, you have brought entirely upon yourselves. Interesting times indeed have beset your lives since the beginning of this sad tale of your daughter's disappearance.

You could have gone out on the night your daughter disappeared and searched for her. Instead, you were otherwise engaged, phone pressed to your ears, calling all your friends and relations, telling them that Maddie's bedroom shutters had been "jemmied," the window broken open and Maddie taken. This lie was readily refuted because there was no evidence of a break-in, but this was the start of your interesting times, since we know you lied and Gonçalo Amaral knows you lied and you have been forced to revisit your lies and come up with new explanations. Although the only fingerprints on the bedroom window were Kate's, she is sticking to the part about the window having been opened by the abductor, as a "red herring," to fool people? Ha! More fool you, Kate McCann!

Yes, you have been living in interesting times. Jane Tanner's ever evolving description of the man she allegedly saw; hiring PR representatives, big-time lawyers, private detectives; setting up a tacky online shop with "best selling items," and "good quality wristbands"; feeling the need to silence anyone who does not accept your mantra about the invisible man who took your daughter, leaving no evidence behind of his presence.

"It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period" (Chinese proverb) The question has been asked many times: why didn't you just slip quietly away and let it all die down? Because you knew that a particular Portuguese police officer would not allow that to happen?

• May you come to the attention of those in authority.

Well, you certainly did that! Your lies thrown up by inconsistencies in your statements and those of your holiday friends, most certainly brought you to the attention of those in authority, who seriously began to investigate your possible involvement in your daughter's disappearance. You must have thought this attention would be abated when Dr Amaral was removed from the case and the investigation was archived, but your interesting times were not over: the "disgraced," police officer bounced back with a book about the investigation, and thus began your frantic search, via various private detectives, for new information, for new witnesses, for new sighings of your daughter.

And so, you have brought yourselves, once again, to the attention of the authorities, by proceeding with your attempts to silence Gonçalo Amaral, and once again, through what has come out in court during that process, you have created interesting times for yourselves. The world and his dog now know more of what is in those archived police files.

And the third part of the "Chinese curse."

• May you find what you are looking for.

You claim to be searching for your daughter. You claim that Dr Amaral's book is hindering that search, yet you yourselves do not appear to have done a great deal of searching. Although you do not appear to be genuinely looking for Maddie, I do believe that you are probably the only ones who can find her, not your private detectives. Maddie needs to be found, if, as you say, she is "findable," and laid to rest. We all know that that "spare place," at your dining table will never be occupied by Maddie. So, may you find what you say you are looking for.
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