"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 21

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Résumé of chapter 21 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

The Macands moved into a new hotel. During an inventory, the manager of the previous hotel pointed out the absence of the meat fork. Laurence looked him up and down, stating that it wasn't there when they arrived. Stéphane threw a large denomination bank note at the feet of the manager, who was asking to be reimbursed. Laurence appreciated the grandness of the gesture.

Ron passed the lie detector test with flying colours and Andreotti is more and more convinced of his innocence, but his bosses at ministerial level, begin to apply pressure. So, Andreotti places Ron on remand.

Yannick Noah has recorded a video with the text that Tony has sent to him. Tony is well pleased with the result. Turning towards the camera, the singer says:

"I will stop singing for a moment for this child. This child who is called Madec. This child who has disappeared. Just a moment for him. Because he must be found. Because together we can create miracles. Don't forget: just a moment. For Madec Macand."

But the video is not very successful. On the other hand, an article in a satirical journal, published on the internet, is a resounding success. It is headed:

"When Noah the demagogue thinks he's Columbo"

Laurence is furious with this failure.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 20

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Résumé of chapter 20 - original French from Frencheuropean.

Tony calls and tells Laurence they need "a media plan."

The Josserands leave for France with the other two boys. Laurence wonders if she misses Madec and observes:

"For a while, her son's disappearance has occupied a more important place for her than her son himself. She would have wanted to hold him tightly in her arms - which he struggles against somewhat. Mule head. The mother remembered a colouring session. Why did Madec go over all the edges? Laurence had snatched the red crayon and filled a tomato in properly. In spite of the example, Madec still went over the edges. Snatching the book from her son's hands, Laurence had emptied out a box of felt pens and set to colouring all the other vegetables."

Andreotti arrives at the Macands' place. The Murdoch lead has gone nowhere. He will be interrogated again with a psychologist present and with the use of a lie detector. Laurence's blood runs cold when the inspector informs her that one of his friends is dead, having jumped from the top of the cliff and that divers are going to search along the coastline.

The hotel manager requests that the Macands leave the premises by noon the following day.

Madec's uncle wants to create a "buzz," to move the world. Necessary for that: 1 - money, 2 - getting known.

He is going to contact Yannick Noah, through a friend. (Note: Yannick is a former French tennis player, now a singer, who has set up a charity, with his mother, for underprivileged children)

He joins his sister in Italy and before the journalists, he declares: "I am spokesman for the Macand family."

Laurence can hardly believe her luck when she learns that all the divers have brought back is the body of Simone Cazzi.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 19

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Résumé of chapter 19 - Original French by Frencheuropean.

Laurence is astonished to see the photo of Murdoch, who looks more like George Clooney than like a paedophile. Anyway, she considers that as he was found guilty of the worst crimes, he could pay twice.

She turns on the tears and exclaims:

"What's awful, inspector, is that he saved his life before."

A week has gone by and the investigation has become a murder case. Forensic analysis to do with Murdoch turns up nothing. Andreotti is not convinced of his guilt.

The media gathers in front of the chalet. The Macands pretend to ignore them. The magazine VSD offers 15,000 Euros for an interview. Laurence is flattered by the offer.

"She estimates that if they wait for more the bids will get higher. She comes to a standstill. Would haggling like this play on her conscience? It's all for Madec. For the happiness of his brothers and his family: for the possibility of living without him."

Obsessed by his past and by the weight of the recent suspicions, Murdoch thinks about committing suicide by throwing himself of the top of a cliff, but another man beats him to it and throws himself off first. That puts Murdoch off.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapters 16,17 and 18

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Résumés of chapters 16,17 and 18 - from the original French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 16

Still single at age 46, Paulo Andreotti lives, as is the custom, with his mother. He is happy with his life and commits a lot of time to his investigations.

It's strange that, if the child was abducted, he didn't make any noise and wake his brothers. No trace of chloroform was detected by the forensic police. What were the cucumbers doing in the entrance hall when they should have been found in the child's bedroom or in the kitchen? Unless it was the child who placed them there before going outside where he was kidnapped?

He is going to re-interrogate everyone, check up on criminal records and alibis.

He feels some affection for Laurence, who reminds him of a former conquest.

He thinks of his best friend, Simone Cazzi, who never had a chance in life: beaten by his parents; born on a February 29th (a present every four years) and who, just when he was happy, having customised the car of his dreams, saw that car crushed in just a few seconds by a bin lorry. He hasn't fared very well since.

Chapter 17

Laurence, who has not eaten in four days, pushes away the image of Madec's body that surfaces from time to time, repeating to herself, "I didn't kill him," On reflection, she concludes that "what's missing for the case to advance is a guilty party."

Her blood runs cold when Andreotti comes to inform them that the maritime brigade is exploring the coasts, searching for a body. She imagines the return to Granville in shame and sadness.

Andreotti also announces that the press is about to arrive to interview them and advises them to be wary.

Laurence, who flatly refused to begin with, looking offended, is quite happy however when Andreotti makes the remark that the press may be able to help in the search. She then pretends to be resigned to it: "in that case, of course..."

That evening, she fears the worst when the inspector knocks on the door. He brings them a photo, that of a suspect.

Chapter 18

Ron Murdoch thinks of his past. A teacher in an English school in Italy, he had been sentenced to 16 years in prison in England for interfering with young pupils. He had pleaded guilty, regretting that the death sentence didn't exist. On leaving prison, he found a job in a bar in Leicester. He fled to London because a 20 year-old barman, Magnus, had fallen in love with him and he had sworn never again to associate with young adolescents. Magnus, however, found him and they set up home together.

To please him, Ron, who had just had an inheritance from his mother, offered to take him on holiday. Magnus chose Italy, in a quiet holiday village. Ron hesitated and then agreed. However, shortly before the departure, he takes on to tell Magnus everything about his past. Magnus, knowing everything, reproaches him for having, with that confession, raised a wall between them and he leaves.

Ron leaves for Italy by himself. At the swimming pool, he goes to the rescue of a child who is drowning. Later, he goes to spend two days visiting the monuments of Florence.

On his return, he is visited by the police and the inspector informs him, in a quiet voice, that he is the prime suspect in the abduction of a little boy: Madec Macand.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 15

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Résumé of chapter 15 - from original French by Frencheuropean.

Two days have gone by. Searches have turned up nothing: no one saw anything.

German Shepherd dogs were deployed on the ground, to the great consternation of Laurence, but since it had rained, they found no traces. They couldn't search the chalet, which Laurence had surreptitiously locked from the inside. She had scrubbed the floor and the skirting boards in the kitchen with bleach again.

The Josserands were only told the day after the disappearance. Sylviane and Laurence agree, with some regret, that a holiday is now out of the question. Sylviane suggests taking the boys back. Laurence reckons that the boys are a handicap for her. When they are around, she has to be strong, but when she is strong, she cannot cry. For the media, she has to be able to cry: "truth shines through the tears." And then, with their departure, the Josserands are also one less burden.

The site manager, who is worried about the upheaval caused by the disappearance and the consequences for the customers, is curtly sent packing by Laurence. Laurence then discovers, within herself, an unknown strength: "that which mothers gain during their pregnancy."

A regional newspaper, "France West," tries to contact them by telephone. Stéphane is quite flattered but he is brought into line by Laurence who tells him that it's enough with the police, that "it's a case of abduction," and that they are not going to recount their life for the tabloids.

To herself, however, she imagines the front page of the newspaper, the photos. She hears herself saying: "I insist that the faces of my other two children are blurred," The small world of Granville seemed suddenly quite shabby to her.

"For Madec, Laurence was seeing bigger things."

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 14

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Résumé of chapter 14 - from original French by Frencheuropean.

The 'flying squads,' comb the surrounding area. Stéphane spends the night at the police station while Laurence stays with the boys.

At seven o'clock in the morning, her husband returns with Inspector Paolo Andreotti, who speaks very good French. Well-built and with a youthful appearance, he has a lopsided smile, which gives him a deceptively idiotic look.

They sit down in the kitchen while the police search the lounge. Laurence remarks, with interest, that there are too many people in such a small space.

"Laurence stared at the totally innocent soles of the police officers' shoes, which were erasing the traces of her secret." They were erasing the traces, which could have revealed the accident.

Stéphane produced an account of the events up to the arrival of the police. Laurence, practically shaking, says she confirms what her husband has said, but Andreotti comments that that is not enough and that she must relate what happened when she went back with the cucumbers, without her husband.

"When I opened the lounge door, my son was already asleep. I hugged him.
- What time was that?
- It was early in the evening: perhaps 21.15
- Did you close the door when you left?
- The front door?
- Did you lock it?
- I believe so. I wouldn't have left the children without doing that."

Laurence is quite satisfied with her answers. Not so difficult after all! Andreotti is perplexed: no evidence of tampering with the shutters, a locked door. In search of a significant detail, he asks Laurence what she did with the cucumbers. She says she doesn't know. Andreotti notes that they are sitting on a small piece of furniture in the entrance hall.

The investigation begins with the customary enquiries about the Macands' activities.

A photo of Madec will be posted on every public building in Tuscany before the evening comes.

In the course of the day, Laurence toughens herself. The memory of Madec's body slips away, little by little, like a little raft drifting towards the horizon. Stéphane, totally disoriented with sadness and worry, nevertheless reckons that his dear wife, Laurence, will never be the same.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 13

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Résumé of chapter 13 from the original French by Frencheuropean.

Her friends ask her if the cucumbers calmed Madec. Without thinking, she answers, "Yes," and then corrects herself immediately: "He was sleeping when I went in." She thinks that Madec is somewhat like an unreal death at the cinema. When they get back to the chalet, the door is half-open and the light is on. Not finding Madec, the father says he is going to have a look around outside because he wouldn't be surprised if the child was wandering in the middle of the night. He asks his wife to drive round in the car while he goes to the swimming pool and the beach. He goes out, double locking the door.

Laurence drives mechanically towards the place where the body is hidden. She feels ill when she realises that it's really Madec's body. She takes it in the boot of her car. She drives along the cliff road, overhanging the sea, and pulls onto the verge, where a rough path, forbidden to the public, opens into the void. She drops the body, which falls into the crashing waves.

She starts to sneeze and is relieved to find a handkerchief in her pocket. It's creased, "but still clean."

Ron Murdoch, who has been out for a walk to relax, recognises her at the wheel of the car as she returns.

Meanwhile, the father and the security guard have contacted the police.

Laurence goes to the kitchen and she see the scorpion on the floor. And suddenly, she realises that it wasn't a simple accident, but that "she had killed her son," She collapses onto to the floor in a violent fit of hysteria, the suddenness of which, her husband does not understand.

She hears the police arriving, questioning her husband. She is going to be interrogated.

She thought about Antonin and Vladimir, How much she loved them.

For them, she makes a decision.

That decision is comprised of three words, which she speaks in a low voice, for the very first time.

"Madec has disappeared."

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 12

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"Nice Family," - résumé of chapter 12 - from original in French by Frencheuropean.

The restaurant cannot supply cucumbers, so Laurence and her husband go to buy some from a grocer's shop and go back to the restaurant.

Madec, who is very frightened of the Kappas, decides to find the scorpion, which his mother has hidden, because only the scorpion can protect him from the monster. While he is in the kitchen fetching a large meat fork from a drawer, he deduces that his mother must have hidden the key ring in a high place. So, he tries to reach the top of the cupboard by climbing onto a bar stool, onto which he places an upturned couscoussier, and finally on top of the cupboard, he makes out the shape of the scorpion. At the very moment when he grabs hold of it, his balance is disturbed and he falls over backwards, hitting his head on the corner of the table. As he falls, he skewers his neck on the meat fork. He dies. The noise does not wake his brothers.

Laurence, who leaves the restaurant to take the cucumbers to him, arrives at the chalet, finds that he's not in the lounge and comes across his body in the kitchen.

A small amount of blood has run from his throat. Without a second thought, she puts everything back in place, wraps the body in the tablecloth, cleans the blood-stained floor with a baby wipe soaked in bleach, puts that into the tablecloth and carries the body to the boot of her car. She drives to the edge of the holiday park and, in the rain, drops the body into a small, muddy, waste water drainage channel. Then she covers it with branches. She drives back.

"A short time later, a Peugeot 807 is seen parking in front of 'La Buona Tavola.' A woman in damp clothing is seen to get out. She is seen going back to her friends' table, tidying her hair, using her fingers as a comb, cutting out the cold part, which she deplored, of a 'four season pizza.'. She is seen eating. She is seen laughing."

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," - résumés of chapters 8,9, 10 and 11 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 8

They arrive at the site of identical-looking chalets in a pine grove, with a swimming pool and close to the sea, but Laurence is disappointed because it's not as good as it looked on the web and she wonders what the Josserands, who are due to arrive tomorrow, are going to think. She consoles herself with the thought that, "as it's expensive, we won't be with the peasants." They decide to go to the swimming pool. Before leaving, because she cannot throw the scorpion key ring into the bin, she decides to place it on top of the highest kitchen cupboard.

Chapter 9

At the swimming pool, Madec, who is constantly in search of new experiences to spice up a dull life, dives under the water. While he is coming back up, his brothers hold his head under the water. Madec passes out.

Ron Murdoch, who was on a deck chair beside the pool, jumps in and brings out the unconscious child. Laurence, seeing the crowd, rushes over and gives her son emergency aid and succeeds in reviving him.

She gives her grateful thanks to Murdoch, who turns down her invitation to a meal. The brothers are not told off, but Madec gets a bit of spoiling: his bed is made up in front of the telly in the lounge and his food is brought to him.

The brothers apologize to him. He asks for his scorpion key ring, but Laurence is stubborn about it and comes up with the excuse for herself that the object could harbour bacteria. She explains to Madec, in an offhand way, that she has lost it. Furious, Madec does not believe her.

Chapter 10

Laurence recounts what has just happened, in an offhand way, to her husband, who has just returned, stressing the kindness of the Englishman. Their conclusion about the incident is that there was "more fear than danger." The Josserands arrive and their chalet is at the other end of the complex. Julien, tall and handsome, is an architect. His wife, Sylviane, envies Laurence her slender figure, but finds solace by telling herself that she has big bones. Laurence delights in learning that Julien has been unfaithful to Sylviane with his secretary, which consoles her a bit for having a husband with such a repulsive scar. The Josserands have a daughter called Mahud. The friends organise a get-together at 2 o'clock on the beach.

Chapter 11

On return from the beach, Laurence gets her oldest son, who is eleven years old, to read a book that contains scenes of violence, that is much too difficult for him. They have milk pudding, a traditional dish. Afterwards, Laurence adds, "...now you're going to bed because after being so busy with you all day, father and mother want to spend the evening with their friends." Stéphane goes to fetch the Josserands.

A short time later. Fabien arrives with his daughter Mahaut and brings as a gift for Madec, an old book, found in a second-hand shop, which tells the story of Kappa, a monster who hides in the water to drown kids. As such, he says, it will be a souvenir for Madec of his own drowning. There follows, told by Fabien, who likes a good laugh, a horrible tale of this aquatic monster, devourer of children with the most atrocious suffering. But to reassure a terrified Madec, Fabien reveals that only cucumbers, the Kappas' favourite food, takes them away from children. Laurence, who has put the other children to bed, puts out the light, and doesn't understand why Madec starts screaming and asks her to bring him some cucumbers.

A bit bothered, Fabien arranges with Laurence to meet at the restaurant.

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," résumé of chapter 7 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

Laurence is well-balanced physically, but too steely to be considered graceful. Her features are mordant, her cheeks smooth, her forehead finely lined, her hair a Nordic blond. But in herself, she is a person of tight-lipped principles. She is a dominant woman who has no truck with contradiction and writes off those who contradict as madmen or cretins. "She knows what she knows."

Stéphane gives way to her for the sake of peace and as she directs the cardiology service, he prefers to leave her with the illusion of power.

More adolescent than grown man, smooth face, and at 46 years old, a full head of hair.

Their relations are coldly regulated, love and sex have no place there.

Between this accommodating father and this very strict mother, Madec, in contrast to his brothers who adjust to the situation, feels very alone. His mother, because of this, thinks that he doesn't love her and attributes her frequent migraines to a son she doesn't understand. She sometimes has nightmares in which she sees herself as an animal, devoured by her own children.

During a stop in Italy, a kind shopkeeper offers Madec a keyring with a scorpion embedded in resin, which fascinates Madec and reminds him of Big. His mother is obliged to accept, but refuses to give it to her son because with a scorpion "it's not meant for a child of seven."

"She knows what she knows."

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Belle Famille," (Nice Family) - résumés of chapters 4,5, and 6 from original French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 4

When his parents are on duty, Madec likes to watch television in their room. On seeing a woman on the screen getting herself accidentally devoured by a tiger at the zoo, before the eyes of visitors, suddenly interested in animal life, he plays with the idea of violent death.

Then he looks back on Sundays at mass, where he spends his time observing people and notably the old women (he calls them the hens). He notes that his mother often cries during the hymns and doesn't know why. She doesn't elsewhere.

Chapter 5

One day, after mass, he asks old father Garrec if he can go with him to the farm to see the cows. At the house, the old man recounts old stories while drinking red wine. The child insists on drinking a glass of it, then two and falls asleep. Also drunk, the old man goes to sleep. He is awoken by the police, who have been searching for hours for the child. The imp found asleep with the cows with alcohol in his blood, is given into the care of six child psychiatrists to see if he has suffered from the sequestration and is examined by a doctor who establishes that he has not been abused. The old man is committed to a psychiatric hospital. After consulting her lawyer, the mother does not have him prosecuted, but gives him fifty days to leave town. That will not be necessary; he dies after three weeks in hospital, like his forty cows that no one has thought to water in his absence.

End of Part 1

Chapter 6

Leaving for Tuscany. A dull journey, listening to the father's boring stories and searching, unsuccessfully, for restaurants that are open.

Laurence remembers her first meeting with her husband during a surgical operation where she was assisting him. She had decided to seduce him because she wanted to be a mother. It was only in the car park that she realised with horror, as he no longer had his surgical mask on, that a horrible scar crossed the lower part of his face. All the same, she noted that he had regular features and clear eyes and calculated that that mark would make him more vulnerable and attentive, which decided her.

Five years later, their first child Vladimir is born.

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Note: the novel, "Belle Famille," can be purchased from Amazon France

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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Chapter 3 - résumé from original French by Frencheuropean


Madec, who is seven years old, has an older brother called Vladimir and a younger brother, Atonin. While the other two are blonde and of easy-going temperament, Madec, who is ginger haired, instead has the manners of a peasant, as odd in his family as his first name.

The father, Stéphane, really took to that Celtic sounding first name during a medical conference in Ireland. His wife reluctantly accepted it, while saying to him that he "was taking responsibility for that kid," two weeks after the child was born by emergency Caesarian because of a rare accident involving the umbilical cord.

Laurence, who has strict educational principles, and imposes on her family a bland organic diet, has, all the same, bought a video game for her sons. Madec, seeing his brothers stupidly zapping with the remote control doubts that he is of the same flesh and blood as them and decides to go out.

It is a Wednesday in Autumn and not a school day. The parents are on duty at the hospital and as the Macand brothers are incredibly sensible, they are left to their own devices for the day. Madec goes down, bare-footed to the beach and thinks about his chameleon, which his father has welcomed with enthusiasm, because he doesn't have very much to say to his son and the chameleon always gives him something to talk about.

To see just how red his skin can go, Madec undresses completely and goes bathing. He is happy because he is totally red in the waves.

Across from the beach, the nurse Francine Frêle sees him and rushes to cross the road and find him. Her chin meets the bumper of a lorry carrying ten tons of oysters. She dies and her brain is mixed up with the crushed shells. Madec comes and asks if she is dead.

Stéphane Macand gives his wife his opinion of the event in this way:

"With breath smelling of Aquavit, Stéphane Marcand explains to his wife that there was nothing they could have done, that they weren't there, either of them - you as well as me.That accidents just happen by accident."

Laurence, dissociating herself from manslaughter by her son, is more shocked by the fact that he was walking around totally naked in public view, placing the blame on the proximity of the nudist (and homosexual) beach, set up by the complaisant authorities according the permissive values of the left.

Regarding her husband, she finds him feeble and uninteresting. He turns to alcohol and that is even the object of "private jokes," at the hospital, but as he is a good diagnostician...

Laurence, a frustrated woman, enjoys underlining that her husband is a loser.

Madec is punished, the nurse is buried. Later there will be an investigation to determine the extent of responsibility of the nurse and Madec's parents for the accident.

With strong glue provided by the town council, school children are each going to stick an oyster shell onto the victim's grave. In the course of time, this will become a renowned place of pilgrimage, which will bring in a lot of money for the town council, which, being grateful, will honour Sandrine Frêle, "for her involvement," in this process.

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Note: the novel, "Belle Famille," can be purchased from Amazon France

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," (Belle Famille) by Arthur Dreyfus - Resumé of Ch 2

At her house, Laurence is angry with her forty-year-old brother, Tony, who is always bringing back strange and useless objects for her from his distant travels. This time, he has brought back, for his nephew, a chameleon, which the child Madec watches in its plastic box. Not very easy to chuck that in the bin.

Tony has fun recounting for his sister his rather disreputable adventures in Columbia, knowing that she, who only lives in the present, is not listening. In fact, Laurence is busy worrying about the droppings the chameleon will produce.

Tony teases his sister by reminding her that she had decided to give up on a lovely romantic relationship in Argentina (and not leave Stéphane) during her internship. Furious, Laurence who, since that episode, has denied herself any happiness, thinks about at least getting rid of the chameleon. She is delighted to see that Madec seems to be disappointed with the chameleon (which is less attractive than in the photos) and suggests to him that the chameleon sleeps in his room, because she has seen that the creature disgusts him somewhat and she hopes that he will refuse the gift for fear of having the animal close to him in the night.

But the child, guessing his mother's intentions, says that he likes the creature and calls it Big. The mother then comes up with a perverse plan: as they are just about to leave for their holiday in Tuscany, she will organise things so that the child forgets to take the chameleon and during the journey, she will exclaim that she has forgotten to feed the chameleon, but that this is not serious because these animals survive without food in the jungle.

On their return, Big will be found, lying on his back, dead, totally shriveled up and all will be well that ends well.

Note: with thanks, once again, to Frencheuropean for the original of this resumé in French.

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus - Ch1

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"Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

Chapter 1 - Resumé (Original French by Frencheuropean)

Granville is situated in Normandy, north of Mont St Michel. Granville's inhabitants live by trading in fruits de mer but are loathe, perhaps even frightened, for some obscure reason, to eat them.

In the bay, at the beginning of the century, high tides often carried away children who had gone to fish for mussels and since then children have had an obsessive fear of salt water instilled in them.

The mayor would like to tax those who harvest the fruits de mer at low tide, but the fishermen consider that it's the law of the sea that applies. A good many of the inhabitants support the mayor for financial reasons, except when their children bring back shellfish because then they have their doubts.

The dignitaries keep the best houses on the cliff for themselves and the fishermen's children never climb the hill where the residences are like forbidden Monopoly.

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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The Prologue

I don't believe in the truth. Like the human spirit, it has its moods. It has its humour. You think you can grab it by the tail. Then it shies away, forcing us to dream. That is all the writer is doing: dreaming the truth. In his way, he changes it: like the soft caramel produced by the 'white aprons' on the streets of Brittany.

The novelist's basic approach is not rigid. It floats around him. There are tears. There are stories. Some, almost invisible, like those in a provincial newspaper, some over impressive, like a column in a national.

Magritte painted a man looking at an egg, painting a pigeon.

I am grabbed, cautiously, by this egg. I have emptied it. From inside, I have poured new life.

Like the man with the pigeon, I only succeed with one of the possible ways of reality. Among many thousands. Apart from the rays of the sun and the wind off the sea, a quick calculation of probabilities subsequently induces me to confess that everything is false. Save for my opening of the shell, any resemblance to real people and situations, past or present, can only be attributed to what Louis Aragon called the eternal rights of the imagination.

The writer is never faithful to the truth. He prefers her little sister, possibility. Forgive him this allegiance, because you must agree that a pike, a snake or a seagull lies more comfortably in an egg than three hundred and thirty Bengal tigers.

Notes:

Thanks to Frencheuropean for sending the original to me.

The book can be purchased here.

Belle Famille - "Nice Family" by Arthur Dreyfus

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'Belle Famille,' a novel in French by Arthur Dreyfus, in which a French family by the name of Macand, the parents both doctors, go on holiday to Tuscany, and lose one of their children, whose name is Madec Macand. Madec dies accidentally in the kitchen of the parents' holiday accommodation, while the parents are dining at a restaurant with friends.

Brief description featured in the online magazine Cultura:

A strange, uncommunicative and lonely child, Madec lives in Granville with his parents and his two brothers.

While the family is on holiday in Tuscany with a couple of friends, Madec almost drowns in the swimming pool. He is saved by an Englishman, Ron Murdoch, an ex-convict who served a long sentence in England for paedophilia.

One evening, while his parents are dining at a restaurant with their friends, Madec dies accidentally in the kitchen of the bungalow.

Going back, for some reason, in the middle of the meal, Laurence finds her son dead on the tiled floor. Without a second thought, she takes the body and gets rid of it, before rejoining the others in the restaurant as though nothing has happened.

On their return to the bungalow, the disappearance sets off a general alert. Searches, more searches, police investigation, paparazzi: within a few days, the parents become celebrities.

The child’s uncle orchestrates a press campaign which gets world-wide attention – reaching Pope Jean-Paul II. Led by an Italian inspector, the investigation is followed closely in high places in France.

The Englishman Murdoch is soon accused of having abducted and killed Madec. His past works against him..Drawing inspiration from a recent news item, Arthur Dreyfus describes that family, set in their silence and spinelessness, with an often cruel irony and Madec’s solitude with entrancing poetry.

Progressively, a climate close to madness sets in, in which the mother, mysterious and silent, plays a central role. Little by little it will be understood why she hides her child’s body.

Published by Gallimard on January 5th 2012, the book is available from Amazon France

I'm a pitchforker and that's OK!

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Madeleine McCann was abducted. How was she abducted? She just was! Says who? Her parents have been saying this from the moment that Kate McCann allegedly returned from the Tapas Bar at 10pm on Thursday, May 3rd 2007, on 'one of my checks,' though it was her only check, to find that Madeleine's bed was empty and the child had disappeared into thin air. Kate McCann knew immediately that Madeleine had been 'taken.' Why? Well, that has never been fully explained. The information was initially covered by the Portuguese law of judicial secrecy, but since the case was archived and the files made public, Kate McCann has not sought to enlighten us about how she just knew immediately.

In certain quarters, those of us who say, 'Well where is the evidence that a stranger took Madeleine?' are being labelled as 'pitchforkers.' So, what kind of creature is a 'pitchforker.'?

In my quest to discover whether or not I may be a 'pitchforker,' I looked to Google for definitions. A simple search brought back nothing. So, I interrogated the Urban Dictionary and found that 'pitchforker,' had not as yet been defined.

I must admit to not spending hours searching for a definition, but I probably did more research than Gerry McCann, who is a funded researcher: on his expedition into the nether regions of Google to prove Eddie and Keela (dem doggies) unreliable, Gerry came up with a sample of one, the Zapata case, where, unfortunately the perp confessed. Who funds someone who comes up with a sample of one to prove a hypothesis?

When the end of my research resulted in zero, zilch, and coincided with the end of my toast and giving the butter-coated crusts to the cat, I took the easy route and decided that a 'pitchforker,' was probably someone who used a pitchfork.

Who might use a pitchfork and why might I be a 'pitchforker' because I'd like to have the answers to certain questions? The image that comes to the minds of many people will be the happy peasant, labouring in the sunshine, forking hay onto a cart, reminiscent of a Turner painting. He's a simple chappie, happy to sweat in the field, sitting at noon against a hay bale, eating his cheese and chunky bread. He goes to the village pub at set of sun and slurps his ale from a large tankard. He's simple, but he's happy. Ah bless!

So, I'm left to surmise that we are 'pitchforkers,' because those people in certain quarters think we are as simple-minded as the happy peasant in the field, because those folks aren't actually defining 'pitchforker,' either. 'Hey, what makes you so sure that Madeleine was abducted?' 'She just was, not shut the f*ck up, pitchforker!'

Returning to the bucolic scene and the happy chappie, toiling in the sunshine, let's explore what said chappie does as he looks forward to his jug of ale once his simple toil is over as the sun sets. Can you see him, his skin leathery from living the outdoor life, pitchforking (to pitchfork: verb tr.) the hay over his broad shoulders onto the cart, which the sturdy horse will pull to the barn, where the hay will be stored for feeding the cattle through the winter.

Happy chapess, pitchforking.

The barn is the storehouse of the harvest from the earth, that grew through the spring and summer, was gathered and stored safely, making sure that it wasn't baled when green: heat can build up and burn the bales and the barn. It has to be properly processed, stacked and stored. And all this is achieved by the simple, bum-scratching peasant 'pitchforker.'

So, fill oop me quart jug wi' Hookie me lad, cors I think I must be a 'pitchforker!'

So, where, you might ask, is the evidence that I must be a 'pitchforker'?

I gather information. Sometimes, like the grass in the field, that information looks rather green, not ready for harvesting. So, I watch and wait for the light of further information to bring it to maturity and I store it. I organise it and stack it chronologically, with due credits and references, so that we know which 'field,' it came from. Like the hay barn that is left open, to allow air to circulate, my gathered information is here, open for anyone to read and I am always willing to amend what is written if the fresh air of new information blows through.

I consider that I am not the sole or anything like the best 'pitchforker,' with a 'barn,' full of stored information, ready for when it is needed. I have read this morning that one very diligent 'pitchforker,' has gathered all the available articles on the Madeleine McCann case and stored them chronologically: over 35,000 articles.

So, I shall carry on pitchforking happily, trying to bring the light of truth to the information available, and I think some of those, 'she just was, so shut the f*ck up,' people, should try a little forking (transitive verb - takes a direct object) themselves. Yes, they should just go and fork their direct objects!

Thanks to Himself for the above image.

HiDeHo's video in support of Gonçalo Amaral

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Hey Gerry! They're making up stories again!

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According to the McCanns' evidence to the Leveson enquiry, they were frightened by press photographers following them when they went out in the car with their children. I don't know how often that happened, but I guess it could have been quite scary, though in what way they don't say. I haven't ever heard the McCanns mentioning how scary it could have been for three children to be left on their own in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country. Kate and Gerry have told us that the children were asleep when they left each evening for the all-inclusive wine and nosh at the tapas bar, but small children don't always stay asleep. Imagine being two or three years old, waking up in a strange place and calling for mum or dad and nobody comes: now that's scary, I reckon.

Kate and Gerry said rather a lot at the enquiry about how the press had intruded into their lives.

Addressing the Leveson inquiry on media ethics today, Gerry McCann said that he did not believe their phones were hacked, but that newspapers had simply “made up” stories they published about the investigation and the family.

The newspapers 'made up stories.' Well, I can think of a few other people, perhaps nine of them, who appear to have made up stories: those statements from the merry band of night-time boozers at the tapas bar have so many holes in them, one could almost think they were made up. But, I digress. The newspapers 'made up stories.' Well, somebody should tell Gerry McCann about The Star this Sunday. The story they published doesn't seem to have been whooshed like the Guardian's 'hush,' money headline. It's still there, as far as I can ascertain, and screams out in its headline that 'Cops rule Maddie abducted.' Result from the Met review already? The cops have rules that Maddie was abducted, according to The Star. While the rest of us thought we would be waiting for a very long time for a result, the cops told The Star!

POLICE have finally admitted Madeleine McCann was abducted four years ago.

Admitted? Finally? What, the Portuguese police didn't spend months and a whole loada dosh investigating the case as an abduction, following up leads all over Europe, North Africa, and even on the other side of the Atlantic? So what did the police tell The Star?

Met police spokesman ­Simon Fisher told the Daily Star Sunday the terms ­allowed for "investigating any sort of lead" from ­studying the files.

Now, that doesn't read to me like the police have admitted anything. They are "investigating any sort of lead," which may or may not include the abduction scenario. No admission of anything there.

Do you think Gerry has complained to The Star, the PCC or had their legal eagles Carter-Ruck chase up the unnamed journalist? The article is still there, but it does rather look like a made up story. One that suits and agenda, methinks. So that's OK, like the media attention when Kate and Gerry were happy to have the News of the World publish positive stories or turn up at any event the McCanns honoured with their presence.

The text of the Star article belies the headline, but people remember the headline when they forget the rest. Somebody was aware of that when the Guardian 'hush,' money headline got whooshed with great alacrity. What will stick for many people is that the police have decided that Madeleine was abducted, when there has been no such decision. But, as Gerry has said, the newspapers do make up stories.

News of the World made hush payment of £125K to McCanns

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...or at least that's what the Guardian online was saying for at least a few minutes!
But then the 'hush,' got hushed somehow and the headline didn't seem quite so conspiratorial!

Observe, gentle readers, the before and after!

The original wording at the start of the article:

News of the World made hush payment of £125K to McCanns

Confidential deal towards search fund for Madeleine was part of apology for tabloid's publication of mother Kate's diary extracts

Daniel Boffey
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 17 December 2011 13.48 GMT
Article history

Gerry and Kate McCann Leveson Inquiry
Kate and Gerry McCann giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry over coverage of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance. News of the World made a confidential payment for publishing Kate's private diaries. Photograph: Pool/Reuters

The News of the World paid £125,000 to the fund supporting the search for Madeleine McCann as part of an apology for publishing Kate McCann's diaries – on condition that the terms of the deal remained secret.

The payment was made after the missing girl's parents expressed their outrage at the story, which Kate McCann said made her feel "mentally raped". All the parties involved in the negotiations over the payment, which was agreed in September 2008, were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement hiding the scale of the newspaper's culpability.

The..emm...kind of cleaned up version! Something got hushed, or rather, whooshed!

Confidential deal towards search fund for Madeleine was part of apology for tabloid's publication of mother Kate's diary extracts.

Kate and Gerry McCann giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry over coverage of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance. News of the World made a confidential payment for publishing Kate's private diaries. Photograph: Pool/Reuters

The News of the World paid £125,000 to the fund supporting the search for Madeleine McCann as part of an apology for publishing Kate McCann's diaries – on condition that the terms of the deal remained secret.

The payment was made after the missing girl's parents expressed their outrage at the story, which Kate McCann said made her feel "mentally raped". All the parties involved in the negotiations over the payment, which was agreed in September 2008, were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement hiding the scale of the newspaper's culpability.

And I'm now going to shamelessly nick a little verse that 'almostgothic' posted on the Missing Madeleine forum!

Hush, hush, whisper who dares!
Daniel Boffey's been given the scares!

Maddy police 'following eight major new leads.'

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Or so says This Is London in their headline of today's date. However, they don't actually tell us who said that!

Scotland Yard detectives searching for Madeleine McCann are examining up to eight "very important" new leads after meeting Spanish private investigators, it was claimed today.

Claimed by whom? Scotland Yard removed 30 boxes of documents from the Metodo 3 offices, and Francisco Marco, told the British detectives that, "there were "six, seven or eight very important leads" within the files which he claimed could help police to solve the case."

That doesn't mean, though, that those leads are either, 'major,' or being followed up. I haven't read anything from the detectives themselves to say that they are following up those leads, only that Francisco Marco has indicated that they are there within the handed over files.

Metodo 3, who started working for the McCanns in September 2007, I believe, and were paid £50, 000 a month to search for missing Madeleine McCann. Funny choice of agency, if you ask me, a bunch of dodgy geezas (just my opinion of course!) who had never been involved in searching for missing adults or children.

Yes, dodgy geezas, folks! This is the band of intrepid investigators, who were going to have Madeleine home by Christmas. That was published on December 14th 2007, giving them 11 days. They claimed to know who had taken Madeleine and that she was going to be back in the bosom of her family in time to take her place at the Christmas dinner table! I assume they meant Christmas that year, but who knows!

The same bunch of highly paid private investigators, who, in February 2009, were under investigation for embezzlement and money laundering and who, in March 2008 were accused of paying witnesses in Morocco to say they had seen Madeleine.

One of the detectives working for Metodo 3 had paid witnesses who claimed to have seen Madeleine in Morrocco. The accusation is made by a source from Morroccan security, responsible for witness interrogation in the kingdom, where Metodo 3's working methods are criticised by the authorities.

The arrest of Antonio Jimenez, one of the private detectives working for the McCanns, who is accused of links to the theft of several hundred kilos of cocaine and corruption of public servants, has reinforced the authorities suspicions regarding the work of the agency.

In the report of the interview, one of the witnesses heard by Morroccan security admitted to having received several thousand Euros from the Spanish detective, who asked him to keep the arrangement secret, "in order to not affect the investigations"*

So, I'm not too sure that the Scotland Yard detectives have carted away 30 boxes of documents in order to follow up these 'six, seven, or eight very important leads.' If they only found out about them as the boxes were being trundled off to a waiting vehicle, there may have been other reasons for removing them in the first place.

And who's next? Kevin Halligen, being charged with money laundering, to whom the McCanns paid £300,000 to look for Madeleine?

The McCanns appear to have found a few dodgy geezas in their choice of detectives to look for their daughter! Bad luck or what? I'd hazard a guess it's the 'or what.'!!

*This blog from an article posted by Duarte Levy on SOS Madeleine McCann

Metodo 3 posts: http://frommybigdesk.blogspot.com/search/label/Metodo%203

Gonçalo Amaral: Justice Works In Silence

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His life has been ripped apart since he led the police investigation into the Millennium’s greatest mystery, and came into legal confrontation with Kate and Gerry McCann. Gonçalo Amaral has lost his family, his business, his assets and the income from his controversial book that states all the reasons why he believes three-year-old Madeleine McCann died in apartment 5A in Praia da Luz back in May of 2007.

Now, four-and-a-half years down the line, he faces another hurdle: a trial for defamation of the McCanns – due to start in Lisbon in February – in which the couple are claiming 1.2 million euros in damages. Does he think he can win? “Of course”, he says. This is the man whose maxim is “justice works in silence”. He still believes the case of the world’s most famous missing person will be solved. And he told Algarve123 what he thinks is needed to get there…

You wouldn’t miss him in a crowd. Gonçalo Amaral, 52, is strikingly tall with a penchant for hats. He was wearing a long black coat, a black fedora and a bright red scarf when we met him on the terrace of Casa Inglesa in Portimão. He looked much more like an intellectual than a former police officer, but these days his life is spent largely writing - an activity he’s come to love as much as the police work that used to fill his days.

Our first question: “How’s life?” elicited the reply “Bad!” so any further niceties went by the board.

What Amaral has always maintained is that the McCanns’ zeal for litigation “will not bring their daughter back”. He claims various legal suits against him, and a number of other Portuguese public figures who have verbalised “anti-McCann-story” sentiments, are totally out of keeping with the Catholic faith so fervently embraced by Madeleine’s mother Kate.

“Is it Catholic to hold sentiments of vengeance? To seek to destroy a family as mine has been destroyed?” he asks.

“This litigation will carry a heavy price – but I have faith that the mystery will be resolved. “Even if I “disappear” in the process - as Kate McCann has written that she wishes I would in her book - I have a daughter and lots of friends who will make sure justice is done”.

It may sound theatrical - but Amaral is not about theatre. He is about truth – hard facts, solid investigative work.

“The case has to be re-opened, and I have faith that it will be,” he said. “It will either be when this current “procurador” leaves, or when the current chief of police leaves. It’s not something I am pushing for - even if I could - it’s just something I feel certain will happen. And when it does, the first, most essential thing to be done will be a reconstruction of that very first night – the night Madeleine disappeared. Because that’s what happened: she literally disappeared! The reconstruction will have to involve all the parties: the McCanns and their friends. You see, there are so many inconsistencies in these people’s statements that a reconstruction will very quickly highlight where they have not told the truth”.

An example of the power of reconstructions came only weeks ago in Spain where a father claimed his two children were abducted from a park. A police reconstruction quickly proved that the father had never taken his children to the park: witnesses who had seen him arrive in his car but hadn’t noticed the children in the back seat, were surprised to discover that in the reconstruction the child-sized dummies in the back were clearly visible. The children’s father is now in jail – although the children are still missing.

Amaral explained that when Madeleine disappeared police didn’t organise a reconstruction in Praia da Luz “because there were so many journalists on the ground” – and once the heat had died down, “the McCanns refused. They said any reconstruction should be made by actors – but the whole reason for reconstructions is to use the people involved, and see where their stories don’t add up!”

Going back to that first night is logical: the initial 48-hours after any disappearance are crucial. They can literally mean the difference between life and death – but in Madeleine’s case, Amaral is convinced of the latter. The theory that has led to his prosecution by the McCanns for defamation is clearly set out in his book “A Verdade de Mentira” (The Truth of the Lie) – banned from sale in 2009, and then “released” by the Appeals Court a year later. We say “released” because the books were actually never returned to publishers Guerra & Paz, and thus they and Amaral have had nothing to sell…

“It’s another part of the whole plot to assassinate my civil position,” Amaral says matter-of-factly. “I’ve been left with no chances; no way of paying my debts; liens on my property. I’ve had to move away from my family in order to protect them. My marriage, well, it’s not so good. Not good at all, really. My life seems to be all about divorce…”

So how does he find the strength to move forwards?

“Well, I put the McCanns in a metaphorical box and I am not really thinking too much about the trial in February. I think I will win, and then they will appeal – but I have to have a path. I want to open another consultancy. I had one when I left the police force, but that was destroyed when the McCanns went after me over “A Verdade de Mentira”

.So that’s one thing - and the other is writing. I have recently brought out a new book: “Vidas sem Defesa” about missing children cases in Portugal, and I have another one almost ready (I am not going to tell you what it is about!). After that, I would like to take police “mysteries” and study them and write stories, not novels; stories based on facts to show what I believe really happened. There’s a real lack of books of this type.

”So he’s not angry over the agonies and frustrations he’s endured from what came from essentially doing his job?

“I have my anger well-guarded. No feelings for revenge. Like I say, they will pay for what they have done to me and my family – but through the courts. Even after everything that has happened, I still have faith in the Portuguese justice system”

.And does he have any clues as to what catapulted the Madeleine case into the stratosphere of media attention? Why did the McCanns receive so much help from the British authorities right from the very beginning? And why were they and the so-called Tapas 7 never taken to task for child neglect – considering that they all left their children alone at night during the ill-fated holiday?

“Ah, now there we’re getting into politics – and quite honestly, those are questions for the British public to ask. I don’t have to have theories about them. My job was to find Madeleine.”

A job handed to him nearly five years ago – and one that he will never forget.


Algarve 123.com

8th December 2011

Addendum

An interesting post from the Enfants Kidnappés blog of August 4th, 2008, about the investigation continuing after the case was archived: this is an extract.

"Madeleine McCann: the investigation goes on."

The investigation goes on.

The PJ had announced during the archiving of the case file: The investigation is neither closed nor abandoned and fortunately the investigation is not over with because alive or dead, Madeleine has not been found. The PJ had stated that they were continuing the investigation away from the media buzz, in calm and serenity. Today, while the file called the, "Maddie case," is being made public and all the journalists have reserved access, it is clearly established that part of the file will remain stamped secrecy of justice. There would be several parts involved. It would be the British authorities who would have requested that specific documents were not disclosed to the public. Another part would have been at the request of the PJ for documents judged to be extremely important. We can deduce here that the PJ are continuing their investigation and this would explain, as I have already stressed, a certain excitement on the part of the PJ. A third part remains under the secrecy of justice, this being the result of a private request. We will come back to that later.

A calculated strategy?

Is the fact of having made the case file public without drawing conclusions concerning the suspects while carrying on with the investigation, an intentional strategy? It can obviously be thought, yes. The PJ making all the elements or nearly all, public, but without accusing anyone, occupies everyone, the parents' lawyers, the parents themselves, the press, the whole of the media etc. While everyone is focussed on the report then on the case file, while everyone is watching the contents of the DVDs (the case file is on DVD) as for the PJ, they can get on with their investigation in peace.

The entire article can be read here.