I may be missing something here, Uncle, but why wouldn't the Smiths automatically be asked, 'could the man that you met have been Robert Murat', after all, I presume Murat was still a suspect at that time?
Well that's my point - the police did ask. They asked many questions that don't appear on the statements.
But there was no need to volunteer that information, because he was there to expressly point the finger at Gerry. The police at that point know he doesn't mean anyone else.
And, as you rightly point out, Murat was the prime suspect at the time. Process dictates that they specifically ask that exact question, for the avoidance of doubt later on if charges are brought.
As far as I can see, this style of ommitting the questions was commonplace for the PJ across the files, summarised answers in the third person. Not helpful when you don't know what the question was, but you have an idea.
Contrast that with the UK rogatory statements and you see a more formal style - questions and answers both stated verbatim.
Finally on this, the documents from the investigation are explicitly described as 'summaries of the statements'.
[url]https://gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id192.htm/url] Unsafe link, click at your own peril.
As you can see, barely a question noted, but clearly many were asked.