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..at the moment I don't think I'll be buying it, but if I thought I'd find at least some of the answers to lots of questions that have been buzzing round the internet and my head since your daughter Madeleine disappeared, I might reconsider.
For a start, those shutters. Were they, in fact jemmied, shattered, smashed or otherwise interfered with? And if they weren't why did you tell all your friends and relations that they were?
In the hours after Madeleine disappeared into thin air, several people received phone calls. Gerry phoned his sister Trish Cameron at 23.40 on May 3rd.
Daily Mirror May 5th 2007
Trish said: "When Kate checked, she came out screaming. Maddy had gone. The door was open and the window in the bedroom and shutters were jemmied open. Nothing had been touched and no valuables taken."
One of the people you phoned, Mrs Kate, was your good friend, Jill Renwick, though why you'd be on the phone to a friend in the UK at 7am on May 4th, rather than out scouring the bushes is beyond me, but there you go, I'm just one of those internet nutters asking questions.
Close family friend Gill Renwick, of Liverpool, who also spoke to GP Kate yesterday, said: "Poor Kate and Gerry don't know where to turn. "Madeleine has obviously been taken. She couldn't have gone out on her own and the shutters were forced." (Daily Mirror 5/05/2007)
Then there was Jon Corner, Godfather to the twins. Contacted at 3am, May 4th, by Mrs Kate.
"Kate said the shutters of the room were smashed. Madeleine was missing It looks as though someone had gone straight past the twins to get to her. Kate was incredibly upset. I've spoken to her since, and she's still completely devastated."
I think there were a few others Mrs Kate, like your childhood friend Linda McQueen, whom you phoned at 2am, who also received calls about those shutters, but that'll do for now. The shutters were 'forced,' (Jill Renwick) 'jemmied,' (Trish Cameron) 'smashed.' (Jon Corner)
However, when Gonçalo Amaral's team arrives on May 4th, what do they find?
- apartment has no signs of a break in, as opposed to what the parents say and what "Sky News" reports (McCann Files)
Another statement from the police.
In early September, The Sunday Times spoke to a detective from the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), the local police, who was called to the apartment on the night Madeleine disappeared. "What we found did not seem to be the scene of a kidnapping," he said. "There were no signs of forced entry, the shutters had not been forced from outside and the apartment had clearly not been broken into." (McCann Files)
So, how come all those folks reported that the shutters had been interfered with? All those people reported in media interviews, soon after Madeleine disappeared, that they had been told about those shutters being jemmied, smashed or forced. So, why?
Then there is the question, Mrs Kate, about how you know immediately that Madeleine had been taken?
"She searched the flat three times and realised she was gone." Cuddle Cat was abandoned in the bedroom. Kate was frantic. She searched the apartment but knew immediately Madeleine had been abducted. "I never thought for one second that she'd walked out," she said. "I knew someone had been in the apartment because of the way it had been left. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind she'd been taken.(The Sun 28/04/2008)
You couldn't tell us at the time, Mrs Kate, when you were bound by the secrecy of justice and especially when you were made an arguida, but you could have told us when your status was lifted or when the case was archived and the files were released. Are you going to finally tell us in your book how you knew immediately and what it was about how the apartment had been left that told you immediately that Madeleine had been abducted? That would be very helpful in understanding how you were so sure that Madeleine couldn't have wandered off. I hope you don't think this is a ludicrous suggestion on my part because I don't think I'm the only internet nutter who'd like to know!
On November 25th, 2008, your dear sister-in-law, Philomena McCann was quoted in the Press and Journal thus:
Ms McCann said: “Kate is mainly doing it and I know she has written some very truthful and scathing things relating to the Portuguese police.
Things relating to the Portuguese police? Well, seems that there were quite scathing reports immediately about things relating to the Portuguese police.
Speaking to the BBC later, Ms Renwick said the McCanns, who had been holidaying with three other British families, had felt let down by police in Portugal. "I spoke to them this morning and they said the police had done nothing overnight and they felt as if they'd been left on their own. They just don't know where to turn."
However, the manager at the Mark Warner resort, John Hill said the police had been doing all they could. He said around 60 staff and guests at the complex had searched until 4.30am while police notified border police, Spanish police and airports. (McCann Files)
I guess maybe you didn't notice all those people out searching while you were busy making phone calls!
On June 14th 2007, Mrs Kate, you and Gerry were contacted by an anonymous person who claimed to have knowledge of Madeleine's whereabouts. A demand was made for 2 million Euros and working with police in The Netherlands, contact was set up and Gerry was to take a phone call about organising the handing over of the money. Now, what I'd like to know is why Gerry was so nonchalant while he was waiting.
From Chapter 5 of "The Truth of the Lie."
The atmosphere got heavier as the waiting drew out, but McCann, relaxed, was reading trivia on the internet and discussing rugby and football with the English police, while licking a lollipop. On the telephone, he laughed with friends who called him. Perhaps this was nervousness; sometimes it's totally displaced, given what is at stake at the time. His attitude shocked. When, two days later the dutch police informed us that the individual had been arrested, that he was not holding any information and had lied from start to finish with the sole objective of extorting money from the couple, we were not surprised.
So, there they were, the police and Gerry waiting for a phone call from someone who claimed to know where Madeleine was, and Gerry was browsing the internet, talking about sport and sucking a lollipop. Will you mention this in your book and maybe explain why Gerry just didn't seem too bothered? Potentially, he was about to learn how he could get his daughter back and you'd think he'd be on the edge of his seat, but Gerry didn't seem in the least nervous. Very odd if you ask me.
To be continued:
- The 48 questions.
- The pink blanket.
- Gerry and the lollipop.
- "I know. I was there."
And anything else I recall in the meantime!
