"I can see where this is all leading now. PJ have had an anonymous tip off about where to find the body & it will be located in Gerry's blue tennis bag at the bottom of a well. The concrete evidence Germans have will turn out to have been faked & planted by MI6. The McCanns will be extradited to Portugal on a murder charge just in time for EAW's to still be valid. Hic."
I've been pondering my previous tongue-in-cheek post made on another thread & something rather disturbing came into my mind - so much so it kept me awake last night for hours.
Suppose the PJ have had an "anonymous" tip off regarding the location of Madeleine's body, details of which they haven't shared with the German police. Are PJ now in a race against time to locate the body before German police complete their investigation into CB? It struck me that, if PJ have the body & it's found in Vila do Bispo where GM's phone pinged in late July, PJ then have a complete case against the McCanns (circumstantial, body, dogs, phone pings, hypothesis etc).
The Germans, on the other hand, need the body, confirmation CB used the mobile phone central to their investigation in Luz + forensics linking him to 5A. If PJ refuse to assist the Germans by granting them access to the forensics &/or skeletal remains examinations then the German investigation may not reach a level required for prosecution.
Hypothetically, the aforementioned could result in what may be a unique legal situation whereby the McCanns would need to use evidence obtained by the Germans against CB in defence of a criminal prosecution against themselves. Would Portuguese courts even permit evidence obtained by another country's legal system to be used as such a defence? How could CB be simultaneously prosecuted in Germany for the same crime against Madeleine as the MCCanns would be in Portugal?
I foresee a situation in which the Portuguese could apply for an EAW to bring the McCanns to face trial in Portugal, the UK refuse to extradite based on what the Germans have uncovered & no-one ever sees the inside of a courtroom. The Portuguese would blame the UK, the Germans would blame Portugal & the real criminals would be cock-a-hoop.
All my own, slightly demented, opinion.