Seems woke and wandered back in favour again.

[The General]

The longer the interval between Madeleine's disappearance being discovered the more space an abductor would have to get clear before the alarm was raised.

No point in leaving the red flag of an open door to advertise their presence unnecessarily.  With any luck Madeleine might not have been discovered missing until the morning giving more time  and distance.
In the event, they did it as successfully as they did everything else within close margins. IMO

I agree with attempting to leave no red flags, but our Jimmy and his accomplices have the checking regime down remember. They will have an idea of the time scales. If Jimmy exists.

[The General]

I get the feeling you haven't had to do burglaries or associated with burglars in you younger days.

True, not every burglary is perpetrated by Raffles the Gentleman Cat Burglar.

[barrier]

Would an abductor know the front door can't be closed behind them? Why would they even care?

Quite agree, getting in was easy(patio door),so go out the easy way,unlocked patio door simples.Or as I ventured Madeleine left of her own accord after a burglar left the front door open.

[barrier]

The longer the interval between Madeleine's disappearance being discovered the more space an abductor would have to get clear before the alarm was raised.

No point in leaving the red flag of an open door to advertise their presence unnecessarily.  With any luck Madeleine might not have been discovered missing until the morning giving more time  and distance.
In the event, they did it as successfully as they did everything else within close margins. IMO

There was supposed to be a red flag of a window open,a open door would be the same,if one is viable both are,if one is not viable then neither are.Imo and all that jazz.

[Brietta]

I agree with attempting to leave no red flags, but our Jimmy and his accomplices have the checking regime down remember. They will have an idea of the time scales. If Jimmy exists.

The time scales were on a knife edge.

My impression is that Kate and Gerry's visits were at regular timed intervals and therefore easy for Jimmy the Abductor to factor in to his or her plan.
But Jimmy the Abductor would have noticed the more erratic movements of the other two couples with no precise measurement of timings between visits.  That irregularity was no doubt factored into Jimmy the Abductor's strategy, because it was a very high risk strategy.

For example ... had Jes not stopped to speak with Gerry ... there is a high probability he would have had a face to face encounter with Jimmy the Abductor leaving 5A grounds.
Subsequently in combination with Jane's description ... that might have been enough to lead directly to him and to Madeleine.

[Brietta]

There was supposed to be a red flag of a window open,a open door would be the same,if one is viable both are,if one is not viable then neither are.Imo and all that jazz.

In my opinion ... not at all.

It is entirely possible that the open window could have been missed if the same conditions had not been in place that were there when Kate was alerted by the curtains whooshing

But paramount is that no-one who was not Jimmy the Abductor knows exactly what went on that night.  Which if either door was entered or exited through.  Or why the window was open and the shutter up ... ingress or egress ... and why it was left up.
From inside it would have taken seconds to sort it ... maybe not so easy from outside though.

[Robittybob1]

Quite agree, getting in was easy(patio door),so go out the easy way,unlocked patio door simples.Or as I ventured Madeleine left of her own accord after a burglar left the front door open.

Madeleine is just as capable of opening the front door as any burglar might.  So how does your "burglar" get in?  Through the window or the patio door.  He seems to take nothing.

[Robittybob1]

There was supposed to be a red flag of a window open,a open door would be the same,if one is viable both are,if one is not viable then neither are.Imo and all that jazz.

They are not the same Madeleine is capable of opening doors but not the window and the shutter IMO.

[faithlilly]

The time scales were on a knife edge.

My impression is that Kate and Gerry's visits were at regular timed intervals and therefore easy for Jimmy the Abductor to factor in to his or her plan.
But Jimmy the Abductor would have noticed the more erratic movements of the other two couples with no precise measurement of timings between visits.  That irregularity was no doubt factored into Jimmy the Abductor's strategy, because it was a very high risk strategy.

For example ... had Jes not stopped to speak with Gerry ... there is a high probability he would have had a face to face encounter with Jimmy the Abductor leaving 5A grounds.
Subsequently in combination with Jane's description ... that might have been enough to lead directly to him and to Madeleine.

But on the 3rd Gerry didn’t come back to approx 9.15 and Kate got up to check at 9.30. That’s not very regular if the rest of the nights they’d been checking every half hour.

[Robittybob1]

The time scales were on a knife edge.

My impression is that Kate and Gerry's visits were at regular timed intervals and therefore easy for Jimmy the Abductor to factor in to his or her plan.
But Jimmy the Abductor would have noticed the more erratic movements of the other two couples with no precise measurement of timings between visits.  That irregularity was no doubt factored into Jimmy the Abductor's strategy, because it was a very high risk strategy.

For example ... had Jes not stopped to speak with Gerry ... there is a high probability he would have had a face to face encounter with Jimmy the Abductor leaving 5A grounds.
Subsequently in combination with Jane's description ... that might have been enough to lead directly to him and to Madeleine.

So how long does he need to look to establish they were regular intervals.  When did the observations start?

[pathfinder73]

IMO an abductor would not have raised those noisy shutters. On a quiet night with regular checks and sleeping children it was extremely high risk and would have wasted precious time they did not have!

Dianne Webster found the shutters down 5 minutes after the alarm was raised. She was the one who tried to raise them and got them stuck as seen in crime scene photos. They usually fall straight back down unless they got twisted and stuck!

[Brietta]

So how long does he need to look to establish they were regular intervals.  When did the observations start?

I do not have a firm opinion on that ... I have seen some say they think it could have been on booking arrangements being made ... others on arrival.
I think the location might have been the initial focal point ... and the opportunity taken when it arose.

[Brietta]

IMO an abductor would not have raised those noisy shutters. On a quiet night with regular checks and sleeping children it was extremely high risk and would have wasted precious time they did not have!

Dianne Webster found the shutters down 5 minutes after the alarm was raised. She was the one who tried to raise them and got them stuck as seen in crime scene photos. They usually fall straight back down unless they got twisted and stuck!

What would have been unusual about shutter noise in a village of properties where all the windows are covered with shutters?

[Robittybob1]

IMO an abductor would not have raised those noisy shutters. On a quiet night with regular checks and sleeping children it was extremely high risk and would have wasted precious time they did not have!

Dianne Webster found the shutters down 5 minutes after the alarm was raised. She was the one who tried to raise them and got them stuck as seen in crime scene photos. They usually fall straight back down unless they got twisted and stuck!

Balderdash!

[The General]

What would have been unusual about shutter noise in a village of properties where all the windows are covered with shutters?

True, nothing. But opening them from the outside would be odd. Plus Jimmy would surely be trying to mitigate noise. Why raise the shutters when he could silently slide an unlocked patio door to one side?