Could an intruder have opened the shutter and climbed in the window?

[pegasus]

Yes, you're right, it had 2 windows, one narrow, one wider like MM's. I would have added the quotes from MO & RO about the shutters being down all week & the room being kept dark for Grace to sleep in the afternoons but facts like that seem to make certain people's eyes glaze & brains fog. As MO & RO slept in the same room as Grace, I think MO was more than qualified to comment on light conditions in the adjoining bedroom.

Yes two, but he thought there was only one. Is it possible that at about 9pm he listened at one window of 5B bedroom, and then listened at the other window of 5B bedroom (thinking it was 5A bedroom)?  If so, he might not see 5A window and shutter (because the building juts out there).

[misty]

Light got through the open slats. No shutters were up and no window was open on Matt's check. He noticed the other shutter being up so that means the curtains were open. Why? It's elementary - it shows that door was used and somebody forgot to close the curtains when leaving. Matt comes next and discovers all these little vital clues unintentionally. The truth is always there it's just a case of discovering it.

Please provide the Portuguese text referring to the Master Bedroom.

[misty]

Yes two, but he thought there was only one. Is it possible that at about 9pm he listened at one window of 5B bedroom, and then listened at the other window of 5B bedroom (thinking it was 5A bedroom)?  If so, he might not see 5A window and shutter (because the building juts out there).

He knew the front door was recessed around the corner so I think he'd be pretty dumb to check the wrong window.

[pathfinder73]

Please provide the Portuguese text referring to the Master Bedroom.

That it seemed to him that the shutters of the Master' bedroom window were open without knowing if the window was also open. (MO 4 May 2007)

I remember sort of being able to pivot here and be able to see this room door was open as well and those shutters weren't down, they were just curtains and that was fairly, fairly light as well. And I just sort of came back out really through the same way and shutting the patio doors'. (MO Rog)

(Matt) poked his head, well you know kind of looked into Gerry and Kates room, just saw there was a double bed there. (RO Rog)

Que, nessa altura pareceu-lhe que a persiana da janela do quarto de casal estava aberta, desconhecendo se a janela estava aberta.

That at that time it seemed that the master bedroom window shutter was open, not knowing if the window was open.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P1/01_VOLUME_Ia_Page_54.jpg

[misty]

That it seemed to him that the shutters of the Master' bedroom window were open without knowing if the window was also open. (MO 4 May 2007)

I remember sort of being able to pivot here and be able to see this room door was open as well and those shutters weren't down, they were just curtains and that was fairly, fairly light as well. And I just sort of came back out really through the same way and shutting the patio doors'. (MO Rog)

(Matt) poked his head, well you know kind of looked into Gerry and Kates room, just saw there was a double bed there. (RO Rog)

Que, nessa altura pareceu-lhe que a persiana da janela do quarto de casal estava aberta, desconhecendo se a janela estava aberta.

That at that time it seemed that the master bedroom window shutter was open, not knowing if the window was open.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P1/01_VOLUME_Ia_Page_54.jpg

There wasn't a double bed in the room so the room was clearly not that well-lit.
I have responded to the shutter issue on the members-only forum.

[pathfinder73]

There wasn't a double bed in the room so the room was clearly not that well-lit.
I have responded to the shutter issue on the members-only forum.

2 single beds pushed together looks like a double bed and they were Rachel's words not Matt's.

[misty]

2 single beds pushed together looks like a double bed and they were Rachel's words not Matt's.

Yes - and he missed the missing headboard on part of the bed. Just as his quick glance did not absorb the correct state of the patio door & shutters in the room.

[pathfinder73]

Yes - and he missed the missing headboard on part of the bed. Just as his quick glance did not absorb the correct state of the patio door & shutters in the room.

He wasn't investigating a crime at the time but he noticed enough and not a moving door 

[pegasus]

He wasn't investigating a crime at the time but he noticed enough and not a moving door 

Obviously MO did not see the child bedroom door moving. But he did see the child bedroom door open plenty wide enough for a child to have walked out of the room.

The open child bedroom door seen at about 9.30pm is obviously the result of the child pulling it open to walk into another room. Why people of both sides insist on inventing incredibly complicated alternative solutions for it is a mystery IMO.

[G-Unit]

Gerry didn't notice the shutters up. Would he have noticed a different light level, given he had undertaken no visual checks during the week?
MO didn't notice the shutters up, but he did notice the room was perhaps lighter than it should have been. Perhaps the clue there is that he saw the curtains as green & yellow, rather than blue & white, so consistent with the amber light shining through.
KM didn't notice the shutters up at first. I don't know if she had performed any visual checks during the week. It was only because of the curtains whooshing (and Madeleine missing) that she checked behind the curtains.

So 3 people failed to notice the shutters were up after 9.05pm - meaning they could have been opened at any time after that.

Behind the curtains that were open?

She noticed that the door to her children's bedroom was completely open, the window was also open, the shutters raised and the curtains open, while she was certain of having closed them all as she always did.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/KATE-MCCANN.htm

[pegasus]

Behind the curtains that were open?

She noticed that the door to her children's bedroom was completely open, the window was also open, the shutters raised and the curtains open, while she was certain of having closed them all as she always did.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/KATE-MCCANN.htm

That is seriously inaccurate paraphrasing by the translator at the interview. KM had never closed the window in the entire holiday, nor closed the shutter.

[G-Unit]

That is seriously inaccurate paraphrasing by the translator at the interview. KM had never closed the window in the entire holiday, nor closed the shutter.

The point of my post (in answer to misty) is that Kate didn't need to 'check behind the curtains' because they were open.

[Carana]

The point of my post (in answer to misty) is that Kate didn't need to 'check behind the curtains' because they were open.

How do you say "went whoosh" in Portuguese?

[G-Unit]

How do you say "went whoosh" in Portuguese?

Why are you asking me? I don't speak Portuguese.

[Carana]

Why are you asking me? I don't speak Portuguese.

I doubt that the Portuguese interpreter lady attempting to get the gist on 4 May of what Kate was trying to explain did either, which then may well have been recorded by the police officer as "curtains open".

Open in which sense? Drawn apart to the side? Or fluttering forward (i.e. not how they should be hanging straight down without any movement)?