What was the weather on the evening of Thursday 3rd May 2007.
We examine an interesting anomaly.
We examine an interesting anomaly.
On Thursday 3rd May 2007 Madeleine and the twins are prepared for bed.
p. 68 “I took them all into their bedroom. Madeleine got into her bed and then Amelie, Sean and I settled ourselves on top of it, with our backs against the wall, for our final story.” [1]
Madeleine is now in bed.
p. 69 Then we kissed the twins, and kissed Madeleine, already snuggled down with her ‘princess’ blanket and Cuddle Cat – a soft toy she’d been given soon after she was born and never went to bed without. [2]
Madeleine is not only in bed, but “snuggled down” This carries a very recognisable connotation in English. Snuggle - To settle or move into a warm comfortable position. You can snuggle into something, or under something. The connotation implies a nest, and all enveloping warmth. The word “nestle” is given in the OED as a definition.
But a short time later
p. 70 “Gerry left to do the first check just before 9.05 by his watch . . .
Madeleine was lying there, on her left-hand side, her legs under the covers, in exactly the same position as we'd left her." [3]
Now Madeleine is reported to be on top of the bed, with only her legs covered, and it is said that this is how she had been left. But this contradicts the clear use of the expressions in bed and snuggled down. Lying on top of the bed with only the feet under neatly folded-back bedclothes cannot be described as “snuggled”, nor yet as “in bed”. Normal English usage permits “on top of the bedclothes”.
From Gerry McCann’s statement to police, on 10th May, 2007:
'Concerning the bed where his daughter was on the night she disappeared, he says that she slept uncovered, as usual when it was hot, with the bedclothes folded down'. [4]
But was it hot, as Gerry clearly insists ? The word used is hot, not “warm enough to sleep with only a light cover, or on top of the bedclothes”.
Kate McCann is very clear that outside, the weather was cold.
p. 73 “It was so cold and so windy.” [5]
Jane Tanner is equally insistent
JT: . . . and I just thought that child's not got any shoes on because you could see the feet, and it was quite a cold night in Portugal in May it's not actually that warm, and I'd got a big jumper on, and I can remember thinking oh that parent is not a particularly good parent, they've not wrapped them up.
Richard Bilton Could you tell . . .?
JT: . . . It was actually quite cold. [6]
and again
“Yeah, and there were some people inside because it was quite chilly by, by this, it was actually quite, quite cold”.
and again
I remember I was wearing, because it was cold, I’d got Russell’s big, I’d borrowed one of his, erm, fleeces,
and again
I’d got Russell’s big jumper on, cropped trousers and flip-flips and, yeah, it was quite, you know, sort of cold”
and again
4078 “. . . at that time, didn’t really think anything of it other than the child might have cold feet?”
Reply “Yeah, and just”.
and yet again
4078 “So you went on the wrong day.”
Reply “Yeah, I think err so it wasn’t, that’s one reason why we didn’t open the shutters to open the window or anything in that room, it wasn’t actually really hot at all, it was actually quite cloudy in the days and at night it was actually quite chilly.” [7]
Russell O’Brien : The nights were quite chilly [8]
Matthew Oldfield in the evenings it was very cold, [9]
Rachel Oldfield it was really cold in the evenings [10]
David Payne it was quite cold some nights and you know perhaps nearly too cold to be sat outside [11]
Fiona Payne it was still very cold [12]
Diane Webster when they were brought up to our apartment and they would have to come out into the cold [13]
Only one person in the entire group of 9 adults insists that the weather was hot enough for Madeleine to have been put to bed lying on top of the bedclothes.
Every one of the other eight adults say it was cold, in many cases they lay emphasis on the extra clothing they themselves were wearing.
Only Gerry McCann disagrees.
The weather report for that day is that at 9 pm, 3 May 2007 the temperature recorded at Faro airport was 57º F, 14º C [14]
On any test this is cold.
WIKI give this “Room temperature is a colloquial expression for the typical or preferred indoor (climate-controlled) temperature to which people are generally accustomed. It represents the small range of temperatures at which the air feels neither hot nor cold, often approximated at 21°C or 70°F. In more rigorous scientific contexts it may denote the range between 20 and 23.5 °C (68.0 and 74.3 °F) with an average of 21 °C (70 °F).
What reason does Gerry McCann have for insisting it was hot ?
This picture shows a bed which may not have been slept in on the night
of 3rd May, and may or may not have had an adult and two more children
sitting on it for a bedtime story. [15]
References.
1 “madeleine” by Kate McCann, Bantam Press, 2011, p.68
2 “madeleine” op. cit. p.69
3 “madeleine” op. cit. p. 70
4 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html#sta2
5 “madeleine” op. cit. p. 73
6 Panorama documentary, The Mystery of Madeleine McCann, 19 November 2007 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id30.html
7 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id222.html
8 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id221.html
9 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id219.html
10 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id253.html
11 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id251.html
12 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id252.html
13 http://www.mccannfiles.com/id254.html
14 http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/LPFR/2007/3/3/DailyHistory.html? req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA&MR=1
Appendices
1 I took them all into their bedroom. Madeleine got into her bed and then Amelie, Sean and I settled ourselves on top of it, with our backs against the wall, for our final story, If you’re happy and you know it!, another present to Madeleine, this one from Great-Auntie Janet and Great-Uncle Brian. If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands! says the monkey. Stamp your feet! says the elephant.
2 Gerry came through to say goodnight. We helped Sean and Amelie give their big sister a ‘night-night’ kiss before laying them in their adjacent travel cots. Then we kissed the twins, and kissed Madeleine, already snuggled down with her ‘princess’ blanket and Cuddle Cat – a soft toy she’d been given soon after she was born and never went to bed without. We were in no doubt that all three would be asleep in an instant. As always, we left the door a few inches open to allow a glimmer of light into the room.
3 After ordering his food, Gerry left to do the first check just before 9.05 by his watch. He entered the apartment via the patio doors and noticed almost immediately that the children’s bedroom door was further ajar than it had been. He glanced into our room to make sure Madeleine hadn’t wandered in there, as she was prone to do if ever she woke in the small hours. Seeing no little body curled up in our bed, he went over to look in on the children.
Madeleine was lying there, on her left-hand side, her legs under the covers, in exactly the same position as we’d left her. For Gerry, this became one of those images I described earlier, pictures that fix themselves indelibly, almost photographically, in the memory. He paused for a couple of seconds to look at Madeleine and thought to himself, She’s so beautiful. After pulling the bedroom door to, restoring it to its original angle, he went to the bathroom before leaving the apartment.
4 Concerning the bed where his daughter was on the night she disappeared, he says that she slept uncovered, as usual when it was hot, with the bedclothes folded down. Concerning the other bed next to the window in the children's bedroom, he says that it showed no signs that anyone had put their feet on it, namely, dirt or shoe prints.
5 I ran out into the car park, flying from end to end, yelling desperately, ‘Madeleine! Madeleine!’ It was so cold and so windy. I kept picturing her in her short-sleeved Marks and Spencer Eeyore pyjamas and feeling how chilled she would be. Bizarrely, I found myself thinking it would have been better if she’d been wearing her long-sleeved Barbie ones. Fear was shearing through my body.
6 RB: Describe exactly what he's carrying, what you can see.
JT: Well I could see.. I could tell it was a child, and I could see the feet and... feet and the bottom of the pyjamas, and I just thought that child's not got any shoes on because you could see the feet, and it was quite a cold night in Portugal in May it's not actually that warm, and I'd got a big jumper on, and I can remember thinking oh that parent is not a particularly good parent, they've not wrapped them up.
RB: And could you tell if it was a boy or a girl?
JT: Only because the pyjamas had a pinky aspect to them so you presume a girl. It was actually quite cold.
7 Jane Tanner - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
4078 “What was the weather like when you were there?”
Reply “It wasn’t, again it wasn’t brilliant, I think it was nicer in the UK.”
4078 “So you went on the wrong day.”
Reply “Yeah, I think err so it wasn’t, that’s one reason why we didn’t open the shutters to open the window or anything in that room, it wasn’t actually really hot at all, it was actually quite cloudy in the days and at night it was actually quite chilly.”
4078 “So it wasn’t sort of going in the pool weather or, only if you’re very brave.”
Reply “No it was really, really cold, I mean I think Russell went in because he’s a nutter and goes in the Atlantic in February but no it was more, after, it got warmer after so we did go in the pool after May the third but no before that I don’t think we, maybe we’d been in once and then decided it was a bad idea.”
* * *
4078 “Can you just write ‘bar area’ on that because I’ll forget”.
Reply “Yeah, and there were some people inside because it was quite chilly by, by this, it was actually quite, quite cold”.
* * *
4078 “But just do the best you can”.
Reply “Yeah. Erm, I’m just trying to, well I’ve walked out of the, walked out of the, erm, the Tap, you know, walked sort of into the reception of the Tapas Bar and obviously walked up the road. I remember I was wearing, because it was cold, I’d got Russell’s big, I’d borrowed one of his, erm, fleeces, so I’d got a big sort of fleece, it probably came down to about here, but then I’d got flip-flops on and cropped trousers, because I’d only got, I didn’t take jeans, I know I didn’t take jeans on holiday, and then.
* * *
Reply “Yeah, that is, erm, and I think at that point I did think as well, the way they were dressed wasn’t quite touristy. As I say, I mean, I looked a right state because I’d got Russell’s big jumper on, cropped trousers and flip-flips and, yeah, it was quite, you know, sort of cold and, and they looked more like they were prepared for the weather, you know, sort of thing.
* * *
4078 “Okay. So you have glimpsed, you know, turned back and see the man disappearing off down the road with the child and, at that time, didn’t really think anything of it other than the child might have cold feet?”
Reply “Yeah, and just”.
4078 “And later on did you think it was significant?”
Reply “It was a, yeah, it was sort of came as soon as, as soon as they said that came, buff, straight. As soon as I’d seen it there it was forgotten and then, buff, as soon as Rachael said”.
8 Russell O’Brien - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
On the evening I was wearing brown jeans/cord style trousers, a pale blue stripe top, and Jane had taken my jumper which was blue. The nights were quite chilly which is why Jane had my jumper I am quite used to the cold.
9 Matthew OLDFIELD - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview4078 "What was the weather like during the week?"
Reply "Erm, it was sunny but cold, the pools were freezing, so we didn't, even though the pool was there, it was unusual for people to be in it. Erm, sunny most days, it got cloudy and it rained on the Wednesday and the Wednesday evening was pretty sort of, in the evenings it was very cold, so at the Tapas Restaurant, when we were there, we'd often, you know, you'd need a jumper if you sat outside and there was no heat particularly, erm, and I think Thursday was sort of fairly similar and quite, well certainly at night and I think the rest had been sort of maybe a little bit overcast at times but I'm not really bothered about the sunbathing and if there was a wind you could go sailing and that was".
10 Rachel Oldfield - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
1578 “What about when you were eating at the table”?
Reply “Yeah I had all that on as well, it was really cold in the evenings, you didn’t take”.
1578 “Chilly evening”.
Reply “Didn’t take enough warm things, so it was like the, all the jumpers that we had yeah”.
11 David Payne - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
1485 ”And conversation? Because I understand it was cold, rainy on a couple of days.”
Reply ”Mm, mm, yes. I mean from the, you know from the, yeah it was quite cold some nights and you know perhaps nearly too cold to be sat outside err but there was certainly nothing that you know led me to any concern during that week err
12 Fiona Payne - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
1485 “Can you remember what sort of time that was roughly?”
Reply “Erm it was still very cold and, and dark, erm I think it was you know, between five and six, I say, I say, I think we’d, we’d, we’d just dozed off, so erm it was still very early.
13 Diane Webster - Record Of Tape Recorded Interview
4078 ”But with all your experience of small children, you thought that was odd that they had not woken?”
Reply ”Oh yeah definitely. Well even err the noise that was going on in the apartment and they slept through it all.”
4078 ”Mm.”
Reply ”They were taken from their cots when they were brought up to our apartment and they would have to come out into the cold and I would have err I would have expected some sort of awakening.”