Nights of the Round Table

by Sina J When I go out to dinner with 8 friends, those who it could be said are ‘so into each other’ we would not want our evening meal to be rushed by super efficient restaurant staff.

I just wonder why the Tapas restaurant would want rush a party of 9, having between them 27 plates of food, or 28 or more, if we read further, and ?? bottles of wine.

We are not told by the waiters that T9 warned them they were in a hurry to eat and leave so it is reasonable to think that this group of people were hoping for a leisurely meal with nice wine and lots of conversation and the waiters anticipating to be in attendance to satisfy their needs.

We have an indication to the contrary for rushing, as on the Quiz Night, the T9 participated enthusiastically and even invited the hostess, Ms Najoua to the table.

And about the Quiz Night, we can see the start of the revealing of very peculiar relationship of the T9 in linking time with reality. Jane Tanner says a round of the quiz lasted a COUPLE of minutes!

In my experience the quiz is usually done in 2 rounds each lasting quite a while. Teams swap their answer papers with the table next to them to mark after each round.

But besides the Quiz Night participation, we also have the late times given by Tapas and OC Staff about the late returning to the apartments by the T9 on the previous nights, so, it seems certain that they were in no hurry to go back to bed during that whole week. They neither pressured, or felt pressured to hurry through the "Tapas dinners".

Waiters rely on tips and would be so attentive to their diners’ wishes to ensure they received the best service, not the speediest service, so having more opportunity to earn tips.

Maybe the waiter would get commission for offering the best wine on the menu, not the house plonk? Would the Tapas restaurant really make much profit if they gave away a free bottle of wine to every customer each evening as Jeronimo Salcedas says “The wine was included in the dinner at the Tapas and the functionaries were very generous.”?

Tiago Barreiros says “That the payment for alcohol, not included in the vacation package, was paid by service card. This payment was made by random members of the group of 9”.

So not free after all?

Oh dear, will Jeronimo now be in trouble for giving away the wine? Or will Tiago be in trouble for “making up” stories about random payments of free goods? The wine either is free, or it isn’t.

T9 arrive at the restaurant at their leisure, although the table was booked for 20.30. They could be’ fashionably late’ as there were no demands on their time after their children were asleep in bed, their supervision was organised whether by a checking system or electronic monitors were used.

No other diners would be arriving after this group so the restaurant would not need to use their table again later.

The restaurant may well be quite empty by the time the T9 group were eating so it’s surprising they didn’t notice the other few diners in there. The Sperreys were booked in for 21.00 so would have arrived at the same time as the Paynes and Dianne Webster. Which couple were Kate and Gerry talking to who had finished their meal and drinking coffee? Was it the Coxs or the Patells? No, according to Gerry it was the Carpenters? What is strange is that two of the diners, the Irwins on the booking form, seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth and the other diners don’t mention the big, noisy, restless group seated at the BIG ROUND TABLE.

I was doing a mental exercise about having 9 people at a BIG ROUND table. Of course round is the best shape so everyone can talk to each other but T9 don't seem to have the same ability to share conversations as Matthew Oldfield’s communication to Gerry McCann on doing a room check for him was not acknowledged.

Although Gerry asked him to check according to his statement, Matthew did it without being asked and was a little offended when Gerry didn't take any notice and then went to check 5A for himself.

So shall we all share a "Tapas experience"? Please bear in mind this all has to be accomplished in approximately 45 minutes if we are generous with time, so if you find it hard to keep up, you are not alone.

Here we go using Russell’s timelines Sainsbury’s sticker activity book.

   

Timeline 1:  

8:45.(underlined) pm
9.00-9.05 Matt returns - listened at all 3 - all shutters down Jerry
9.10-9.15 in the room + all well ? did he check
9.20/5 - Ella (crossed out) Jane checked 5D sees stranger & child
9.30 - Russ. Ella (crossed out) Matt check all 3
9.35 - Matt check see twins - l
9.50 - Russ returns
9.55 (circled) - Kate realised Madeleine
10pm (circled) - Alarm raised

Timeline 2:  
8.45pm. all assembled at poolside for food
9.00pm. Matt Oldfield listens at all 3 windows 5A, B, D ALL (double underlined) shutters down
9:15pm Gerry McCann looks at room A ? Door open to bedroom
9:20pm (circled) Jane Tanner checks 5D - [sees stranger walking carrying a child (squared)]
9.30 Russell O'Brien in 5D. Poorly daughter
l
l
l
l
l
l
9.55pm 10:00pm (circled) Alarm raised after Kate

But the reality is, 9 people eventually get to the table at 21.10.

I think we can presume Jeronimo Salcedas took the orders for drinks and served them as he says he served the table frequently that night. Salcedas states he was frequently called to attend British clients as he speaks English and his colleagues had little knowledge of the English language.

The group could pretend to do what they did the night before and just order bottles of wine, more white than red, so to begin with, 2 white, 1 red and some water.

The waiter selects the wine and bottles of water, brings them to the table and opens them and serves.

Joaquim Baptista, now seems to have a good understanding of the English language because he says he took the orders for the food so 21.10 he opens his pad and goes around the table taking orders for starters and main courses at the same time according to Jane Tanner....what time is it now... 21.20?

How many people have already left the table for visits to their apartments? 3 or 4 people?

Being so efficient he takes the orders in 2 minutes and as Gerry must have given his order first he is free to leave the table just after 21.10.

The starters arrive for 9 people, and being speedy cooks, by 21.30, now I'm impressed.

We are also told there is a lull between courses at 21.40. The chef has to cook Russell’s steak on the outside grill after starters were prepared and served but then must go back into the restaurant to prepare the other meals.

I wonder where their sardines were cooked?

He goes out a second time to prepare another steak for Russell later on.
Dianne Webster says they have 3 courses as NORMAL, so this is going to be a bit of a challenge to fit them all in on the 3rd May.

Gerry orders sausage and potato starter ...so what time did all 9 starters arrive at the table if they were having cooked starters?...21.30 with super efficient staff? It takes 10 minutes to eat them and clear away ...21.40? That's being quick! One wonders if they were able to converse at all... and clarifies the need of so much wine to wash things down that quickly...

As they ordered main courses with starters, that would have added a few minutes to the initial order but then the waiter does not need to go back to the table to take the more orders. 9 main courses arrive 9.45? VERY IMPRESSIVE but there again there was nobody else in the Tapas restaurant needing attention by this time.

So by some time machine miracle those 9 people have main courses while fitting in room visits and have desserts (although Russell has to have a second steak cooked...he must like rare steak) and 11 more bottles of wine....all before 21.50 when Kate leaves the Tapas.

40 minutes in total by which time at least 28 plates of food and 14 bottles of wine have been delivered to the table.

Now about the BIG ROUND TABLE from Jane Tanner’s rogatory statement. “The big table for us is in the middle, they’d put a table there and then there was some more tables down the side by the tarpaulin. And I think our table had moved slightly that way”.

Tables that move themselves? She previously mentioned it was right beside the tarpaulin where the ‘wall thing’ was where she would rest her baby monitor.

According to Tiago Barreiros “That the table they occupied is next to the Tapas bar since that table was the biggest.”

 When Jane was asked if it was one table specifically for a large group or a group of tables put together she replied “I think they’d put some together, but it was round, it was just one big round, a big round one. I can’t remember to be honest.”

Not only does the table move but so do the people sitting at it.

Jane says “I was sitting next to Kate on one side and I think it was Rachael, I think it was Rachael the other side. I think it was, so it was Kate, me and Rachael….I think Dianne was next to Rachael…..and I think Russell might have been the other side of Kate or Matt was next”.

A rather different seating arrangement to Kate’s statement:

 
Also remember that Clarence Mitchell said the group had no watches, mobile phones or cameras with them (well…. apart from Dianne Webster who mentions in her statement looking at her watch) but I guess the Tapas restaurant has a nice big clock so everyone knows exactly what time they came and went.

The Paynes and Dianne Webster don’t arrive until 21.00 and Dianne Webster firmly states in her first interview on the 4th May when asked if “there was any possibility she crossed paths with someone during the journey between her apartment and the restaurant” the witness said “no”.

She also states no-one had been sent back to the apartment to call them. So she did not see Matthew Oldfield who had gone to chivvy them up?

Although Ms Webster does say in her rogatory statement over a year later that she did meet Matthew Oldfield on the way to the restaurant, Matthew, in his statement that he passes Dianne and the Paynes but carries on to do a check anyway.

Can we assume that at a brisk walking pace walking pace it would take 3 minutes to get to the apartments and back and a couple of minutes to listen at ‘all 3’?

From the handwritten timeline he doesn’t specify what ‘all 3’ are so let’s presume he means apartment windows. So let’s also assume Matthew Oldfield is back at the table by 21.05 so the ordering did not begin until then.

Just to recap and think about the times we are given………. I think we can assume it is 21.12 or slightly later and 21.15 by the time the chef received the order sheet for food.

As the Tapas restaurant is very efficient, 9 starters are delivered to the table by….oh dear ….now things are already starting not to add up but let’s carry on with the information we are given by Russell.

Gerry is not at the table at 21.15 he is in 5A and as we now know he spoke to Jeremy Wilkins for 3 minutes (it was rather inconsiderate of Jez not to mention he was going to be out walking when this timeline was drawn up by Russell) and if it takes 3 minutes to get to 5A and back he doesn’t return to the table until 21.21.

Gerry settles down to his starter at 21.21 as it must be sitting on the table ready for him. I think the chef must have had those 9 starters pre-prepared as Jane Tanner finished hers by 21.20 so she can go back to her apartment.

It was so considerate of the chef to also give Jane her main course at the same time so she could go back to relieve Russell O’Brien if we go by timeline 1 above. But if we go by timeline 2 we are not told Russell had gone back to the apartments before Jane so it is getting a little confusing. 21.35, timeline 1, Matthew Oldfield goes back to the apartments and sees the twins so when he returns to the table it would be 21.40 (odd…just in time for the ‘lull’ between courses?) by which time 9 main courses are served, that is good going for 1 chef and 1 kitchen assistant.

So I assume Matthew begins his main course at 21.40.

Let’s hope Russell’s steak wasn’t too rare with the speed meals are cooked, or maybe it was overcooked so it was taken back and another one cooked for him for when he returned at 21.50 just in time for Kate to leave to do her check.

So, being super efficient, between 21.15 and 21.45 drinks orders are taken and served, starters and main course orders for 18 plates of food are taken, cooked, served by a waiter who must have done at least 3 trips to the kitchen for each course, eating the meals and the table cleared between courses, a second steak cooked and 4 people making trips backwards and forwards, all within 30 minutes?

We have a statement to say everyone had finished eating by 21.50.

I suppose being doctors they would know what to do in the case of severe indigestion. It gives me indigestion just thinking about it.

My goodness, tennis and watersports make you hungry!

Thanks to the speed of the the cooks and waiters at the Tapas restaurant they can fill the needs of 9 hungry people with 3 courses and all that ‘free’ wine within that short space of time.

Do they serve indigestion tablets with the liquers?

As Joaquim Baptista spent 30 minutes in the kitchen when the group had finished their main course he can’t have been hanging around waiting to offer desserts or coffee. Had he abandoned hope of getting any tips?

I don’t think Salcedas was banking on tips either because he was speaking to his two colleagues, Ze and Ricardo, who were on a break (not very considerate taking into account that such a frenetic activity was going on around the BIG ROUND TABLE) and then he returned to the restaurant to find only Dianne Webster sitting at the table.

So he wasn’t paying any attention to the group. So who was paying attention to the group of diners?

If there were no diners there that would explain their lack of attention.

Maybe Dianne Webster remained at the table when Kate raised the alarm that Madeleine had been ‘abducted’ as her statement says it was usual for the group to have dessert and she stayed behind to eat hers?

Let’s not forget she goes back later for the camera she didn’t take!

As an afterthought, maybe we should look at the statement of Arlindo Peleja…who only sees 3 couples sitting at one table on the esplanade. That seems slightly more credible. 2 small square tables put together would not be unusual and no-one would take much notice.

He doesn’t say which 6 people apart from Dianne Webster but as he says couples it would indicate 3 men and 3 women so I wonder who he partnered Dianne Webster with?

He says he arrived at the restaurant at around 21.10 and heard clamour at around 21.20, at 21.40 (remember that, apparently, he was the ONLY one wearing a watch) when he left the table was completely empty and various items, principally clothing, was left behind.

Who would be sitting ‘outside’ on a cold night, eating dinner and NOT wearing the clothing they had taken?