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Madeleine McCann: The Forbidden Investigation
From the work of Gonçalo Amaral
Chapter 1
Precipitation?Certainly Not.FEBRUARY 2008, NINE MONTHS AFTER MADDIE’S DISAPPEARANCE.IT’S CARNIVAL SUNDAY. In the distance the shots of the hare hunters can beheard, resounding above the low-growing vegetation of the Barrocal.On waking, I decide to stay at home. Recently, I’ve had no wish to go out, to gowalking or to meet people. I yearn instead for peace and silence. That morning,the sun was shining, promise of a lovely day: but in the afternoon, the rain beganto fall, ruining the fête and the parades.From the window I admire the Algarve countryside: the pink and snowy-white of the almond trees contrasting with the blue of the sea that is glimpsed in thedistance. Suddenly, the ringing of the telephone – more and more unusual of late– brings me out of my lethargy; I have to face reality.From the receiver, a friendly voice, swinging between anger and sadness, asksme:- How are you? Have you heard our national director’s interview?I reply no and wonder what the clearly perceptible anxiety of my questioner isdue to.
 
- He says we were precipitous. That placing the couple under investigation waspremature….I wonder what’s come over him. He totally validated that decision.What is he intending to do? End the investigation?He is alluding to the investigations undertaken after the disappearance of a littleEnglish girl of nearly four years of age during the night of May 3
rd
to 4
th
2007, atthe Ocean Club, one of the many tourist complexes in the village of Luz in Lagos,Portugal. She was called Madeleine Beth McCann and she was sleeping in abedroom in the apartment block, beside her sister and her brother – twins aged 2years. During this time, their parents were dining a hundred metres away with agroup of friends and holiday companions. This news story was the beginning of acriminal investigation, unpublished in Portugal and, I think, in the rest of theworld. Even so, the case benefited from unprecedented international mediacoverage. Numerous suggestions were put forward, mixing truth and lies; at thesame time as regular information bulletins from the police, a campaign of disinformation was developed with the objective of discrediting the work of theinvestigators. For me, the investigations came to an end on October 2
nd
2007, thedate on which there seems to have been a new English ultimatum, incidentally onthe same day that the Treaty of Lisbon was being discussed.Considering the length of time I witnessed that media spectacle, including, at itsheight, “forcing,” by the McCann family with the disclosure of a photo-fit sketch of the alleged abductor, nothing more could have surprised me.- Don’t worry, it’s carnival…I follow the conversation as if it was nothing, but deep down, I have the feelingthat the world is caving in.After hanging up, I go back to contemplating the almond trees in flower, plantedin the hard soil of the Algarve. I wonder if a body is resting under that earth andif God, in the end, is not a little precipitous in making these trees flower in thewinter….And then I tell myself no. A memory comes to mind of the legend of thisprincess from a country in the north, married to a Moorish king. She spent herwinter days pining for the snow of her country, which she missed. Then, themonarch had the idea of planting almond trees throughout the surroundingregion. Thus, when winter arrived, from the castle window, the young womancould contemplate the white mantle of the flowering trees that covered thecountryside, and her sadness was dispelled.BRIEF DIGRESSION ON THE ALGARVE AND ITS INHABITANTS
 
From time immemorial, the Algarve has been a region open to the world. Itsgeostrategic position, its sky, its climate and the hospitality of its inhabitantshave always attracted people from other regions. Phoenicians, Carthaginians andGreeks passed through here; the Romans established themselves here and set upcommunication routes. Numerous relics; at Estói, Vilamoura, Abicada, Vila daLuz, witness to their presence. The influence of the Moors, who spread Al-Andalus(it is thus that they named the region) to the west of Cordoba, to Al-Gharb,remains very present in the Algarvian culture.The history of the relationship between the Algarve and England is as ancient asit is turbulent. Between 1580 and 1640, when Portugal lost its independence andwas integrated into the Spanish Empire, Faro was attacked by the troops of theCount of Essex. This latter seized, amongst other assets, some precious property– not less than 3,000 volumes – from the library of the Bishop of the Algarve,Jerónimo Osório. Amongst these books was a Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) in Hebrew, printed in 1487 in Faro by Samuel Gacon, a Jewishpublisher. This historic work (the first book printed in Portugal) is kept at theBritish Library in London. Later, the Algarvians will help the English to defendGibraltar, a strategic place for the fleet of the British Royal Navy.The Algarvians have always shown great independence, not hesitating to opposeany foreign domination attempt. In the 19
th
century, during the French invasion,the first reverses suffered by the Napoleonic troops were inflicted by theAlgarvians. The population of Olhao rose up and drove the invaders back nearQuelfes; young people of the town set out aboard a fragile barque to inform KingJohn VI, then exiled in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of the liberation of his homeland.Portugal is a country of brave and warm-hearted people, rejecting arrogance andinsults, proud of their identity and independence, even from the European Union.It is also a modern state that welcomes a great many investors and tourists andmoreover plays an important and recognised diplomatic role. Throughout itshistory, Portugal has concluded pacts, signed treaties and built bilateral allianceswith many countries: the Luso-British Alliance is a good example, proof of thevitality of relations between the two countries, and above all of a deepunderstanding.Nowadays, the Algarve is focused on tourism; since the 1960s, it is mostly theBritish who come to stay there. It is on this welcoming soil that little Madeleinedisappeared.AN INVESTIGATION DESTINED FOR THE ARCHIVESI feel it; with that television statement, the national director has the intention of preparing public opinion for the inevitable, that is to say, the end of theinvestigation and the closing of the case.I get the impression that that decision was hatched on October 2nd and that allactions taken after that date were only a matter of form, with the sole purpose of sticking to the pre-established schedule. I fear that challenging all the previouswork of the investigation is only a pretext for closing a case that was beginning toundermine the police judiciaire, the investigators and Portugal. Perhaps that was
of 00

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02 / 20 / 2010This doucment made it onto the Rising List!

6)

01 / 18 / 2010
AnotherSomeoneElse

Very interesting, but incomplete. The last few chapters are missing.

reply01 / 18 / 2010
jailhouselawyer

I have now added the remaining chapters so this version is also complete. Read on and enjoy.

01 / 18 / 2010
jailhouselawyer

If you look in Related Documents on the right for Maddie the Truth of the Lies this version has all of the chapters.

01 / 18 / 2010
jailhouselawyer

Sorry, I will go to the source as soon as I am able to and update it if available. Thanks for letting me know, and showing interest in a topic which has now had petrol poured onto the flames with the McCanns suing Amaral.

01 / 18 / 2010
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