I have been following the libel trial with interest and the common question which arises time after time is did the book or the documentary damage the search for Madeleine? The answer from the investigating officers comes back each and every time as an overwhelming "no".
So who did hinder, obstruct, curtail, circumvent or damage the search for Madeleine. I am very sure that if Madeleine is still alive she herself will want to know this some day.
This libel trial, among other interesting ones, raises the search issue. Before examining what could have "hindered, obstructed, curtailed, circumented or damaged" the search, to use your words, Angelo, wouldn't it be useful to reflect upon the "search for" concept. What does it stand for exactly ? Do, for instance, the McCanns' supporters have executed some action they can depict as "search for Madeleine" ? It's no excuse to live in the UK, because Madeleine, from the start, could be
anywhere. So what are our mental representations of the search for Madeleine ?
I live in Lisbon and when I'm in the street, I like to look at kids, I daily cross little blond girls, it never passed my mind they could be Madeleine. Why ? Because nothing suggests they're not fine. If something suggested it, whether brown or blond hair, whether blue or dark eyes, whether 3 or 5 or 7, whether cute or not, I wouldn't pass my way without trying to know more.
No child cries in the public space in Portugal without having immediately dozen of people, not only ladies, around.