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

[misty]

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

Curtains which are fully opened don't go whoosh. Do the experiment in your own house.

[G-Unit]

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)?

Kate said open, Gerry said drawn open.

[misty]

"As I ran back into the children's room the closed curtains flew up in a gust of wind. My heart lurched as I saw now that, behind them, the window was wide open and the shutters on the outside raised all the way up. Nausea, terror, disbelief, fear."

Madeleine p.72 Hardback

[stephen25000]

"As I ran back into the children's room the closed curtains flew up in a gust of wind. My heart lurched as I saw now that, behind them, the window was wide open and the shutters on the outside raised all the way up. Nausea, terror, disbelief, fear."

Madeleine p.72 Hardback

......good old Mills and Boon

[misty]

......good old Mills and Boon

.....the only writers worth reading on Amazon :)

[Carana]

"As I ran back into the children's room the closed curtains flew up in a gust of wind. My heart lurched as I saw now that, behind them, the window was wide open and the shutters on the outside raised all the way up. Nausea, terror, disbelief, fear."

Madeleine p.72 Hardback

So, we have "went whoosh" and "flew up".

Neither of those descriptions appear to sound like the curtains had been drawn apart to their extremities on either side of the windows, which is one interpretation of how "open curtains" may have been interpreted in a statement made in chaotic circumstances.

[Alice Purjorick]

Wouldn't it be good to have a definition of "went whoosh"?. Both in terms of noise and movement on which we could all agree. Fat chance there I guess 

[Anna]

Wouldn't it be good to have a definition of "went whoosh"?. Both in terms of noise and movement on which we could all agree. Fat chance there I guess 

Any of those Alice?


Whoosh

1. a loud, rushing noise, as of air or water: a great whoosh as the door opened.

2. to move swiftly with a gushing or hissing noise: gusts of wind whooshing down the street.
3. to move (an object, a person, etc.) with a whooshing motion or sound: The storm whooshed the waves over the road.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/whoosh

So The dog went woof
the curtains went whoosh

[jassi]

Could be have a measurement of woosh on the Beaufort Scale, do you think? Then we would definitely understand 

[Anna]

Could be have a measurement of woosh on the Beaufort Scale, do you think? Then we would definitely understand 

 

[Mr Gray]

I think this preoccupation with the exact words when the statements have been translated twice is more than a tad ridiculous

[Alice Purjorick]

I think this preoccupation with the exact words when the statements have been translated twice is more than a tad ridiculous

If there were a definite understanding of the physical occurrence that went with the words you might have a point.
So what is your understanding of how the curtains behaved from the description ?

[Carana]

Wouldn't it be good to have a definition of "went whoosh"?. Both in terms of noise and movement on which we could all agree. Fat chance there I guess 

And how that was conveyed to the first "interpreter" that morning, and how that general idea got conveyed to the officer noting down the general gist.

[Anna]

It wasn't a word it was a sound......So how do you put it into words?


at 14.30

[G-Unit]

Can anyone explain why an abductor or burglar would open the window and shutters but not the curtains? Those who think Madeleine was lifted from outside are wrong, as are those who think she was passed out through the window. Not with closed curtains she wasn't.

Can anyone explain how the curtains whooshed? One was trapped behind the bed. Did Kate or Gerald McCann tuck it down there at some point?