I'll copy the part of Arlindo's statement "After parking his vehicle, he entered through the reception of that restaurant, in the left hand direction, toward the side opposite the pool, and passed by the esplanade. He remembers having seen in that esplanade, one table, occupied by three couples, without children, and all of them adults. On the esplanade, he encountered no one else. "
Since the Tapas 9 were the last table to leave that is them in the Esplanade or at least what Arlindo calls the esplanade.
I agree he does say that according to the statement, which was translated into English by (?)Portruguese Citizen, Ines
471 to 473-Witness statement of Arlindo Epifano Goncalves Fernandes Peleja 2007.05.07-snip-
After parking his vehicle, he entered through the reception of that restaurant, in the left hand direction, toward the side opposite the pool, and passed by the esplanade. He remembers having seen in that esplanade, one table, occupied by three couples, without children, and all of them adults. On the esplanade, he encountered no one else. -snip-
Well that means one of four things imo
1) That they were indeed sitting outside, under the restaurant roof, but in the gap between the Tapas restaurant and the Tapas bar
2) On that cooler night, the plastic side (window) to the restaurant had been taken down (as in the video)
3) That Esplanade means something else in Portuguese to the British meaning
4) That Ines, a portuguese national I believe, had messed in her understanding and translation, but I seem to remember that her English was pretty good
Now according to Arlindo
-snip-
He records that the past Thursday, 3rd of May, he left the central kitchen with the objective of going to the Tapas restaurant in order to determine that everything was functioning smoothly;
. When he arrived there, by vehicle, at around 21:10 -snip-
He arrived there at about 9.10pm. -snip-
He remembers having seen in that esplanade, one table, occupied by three couples -snip-
So where were all the other diners such as the Carpenters?
And Ines uses the word
in, so does that mean that the walkway inside the restaurant is called "The Esplanade"? Perhaps, as Ocean Club grew, the restaurant was a later addition to the area which originally was part of the Esplanade ? Dunno.
However if the group were sitting there with no plastic window, then it cuts all the discussion as to whether they would hear Madeleine if she yelled. Undoubtedly they would have and she would have heard them. Also no ploastic sheet to look thru to see 5A, so a clear view both ways.
What a mix up. Difficult to make sense of it all
Over to you.
