Planting a spy

1. The 2 in 1

The 52yr (in 2007) Stephen Carpenter, or Steve as he prefers to be called, is a very fascinating man.

He’s the man who affirms he introduced Robert Murat to the case.

It was because of him, he says, that Murat was introduced as a translator to the case. How Murat must now regret ever having met, supposedly that is, Carpenter on that fateful morning of May 4, 2007 in that cul-de-sac.

Carpenter is the man who speaks of a mysterious man with grey hair who disappears mysteriously in the morning. Could it have been a vampire?

Carpenter is also the man who has a fascinating relationship with Ocean Club's laundry.

Before we get to what Carpenter had to say on April 21, 2008, just a note.

Carpenter was in 2007 a maintenance technician. Unless he did maintenance of sophisticated medical equipment, he doesn’t seem to fall under the medical profession.

As readers know, some think that the Pandora’s Box of the Maddie mystery was some sort of secret medical convention that supposedly took place in Praia da Luz that week. We cannot see where a maintenance technician fits into such a scenario but if there’s one thing this case has convinced us is that pigs do fly so we’ll maintain an open mind on the subject.

Carpenter’s rogatory, on April 21, 2008, is quite an interesting document to observe because it is, literally, 2 statements in 1.

Carpenter’s statement given to the British police on May 17, 2007, doesn’t appear in files. But DC Ferguson of Leicestershire Police, does us the favour of reading it out loud when questioning Carpenter on April 21 the following year.

The document available in the files, the rogatory interview of 2008 is basically the revision of what Carpenter said in 2007.

For example, when DC Ferguson says “Neil and Raj, two MW tourists that I saw in the Tapas Bar who were looking for Madeleine with me, doesn't make much sense, I think it was perhaps explaining who they are and where I met them” and “I will now describe the resort and to help me with this description I will base myself upon an aerial photograph from the Sun Newspaper dated the 16th May” is not the Leicestershire police officer speaking of Berry and Balu nor describing the resort but simply voicing Carpenter’s words said back in 2007.

From DC Ferguson’s voice we get to know what Carpenter said on May 17, 2007 and from what Carpenter himself said we get to know that he wants to further clarify what he said plus what he would like to add to what he then said.

This means, as DC Ferguson so rightfully says, that “Good. Right, this statement was taken by a UK police officer on the 17th May and so the facts should be quite fresh in your memory.”

This was just 3 days after Robert Murat was named arguido in the process.


2. The really-very-close-by neighbour

Stephen Carpenter is staying at apartment FP02. FP stands for Fiji Palms. We have seen it also called Fugi palms. Its the building just South Casa Liliana, the Murat's property:

Carpenter is very keen on telling us how near he is to Murat's property:

“…now knowing where Murat was in relation to us, because I don't know whether they showed you the proximity between us” and “here was the club where Gerry was, behind Murat's garden and here we were probably the people closest to Murat” and “...only thing is thinking about our proximity to Murat's property.”

He also tells us what path he used on the night of May 3 to go from the Tapas bar, where he says he had his dinner, to his apartment:

“Between approximately a quarter past nine and half past nine we left the Tapas bar to go home, we walked across the MW reception area, crossed the road and a semi circular path to return to the apartment, were we put the children to bed and a short while later did the same ourselves.”

Murat and Carpenter couldn't be closer neighbours.


3. Carpenter walks into the case

Knowing where exactly Carpenter and his family were lodged will allow us to better understand his movements on the morning after Maddie disappeared, May 4, 2007.

Please be reminded that DC Ferguson is reading from Carpenter’s statement on May 17, 2007.

This is how Carpenter becomes aware of what had happened to Maddie, the night before:

“Carpenter:  …and that was all until the following morning when I saw the television.

DC Ferguson: “Yes, and where you state that it was on GMTV.

Carpenter:  Yes..

DC Ferguson: “I think that it was reported that it was a three year old child and probably thought who could it be and knew that Kate and Gerry were from Leicestershire and assumed that it was one of their children seeing that they had small children”

On hearing this news and assuming it was about the McCanns, Carpenter leaves the apartment:

“DC Ferguson: And afterwards you left your apartment to see if you could help in any way and as you said previously, everything was very quiet and there was nobody around. Then you say "I went to the MW reception and I met two of Gerry's surfing friends who told me that Madeleine had been abducted on the previous night, I asked if there was anything I could do to help and I think they were waiting for news from the Portuguese police.””:

Do note that the Tapas reception, has now become the MW reception. There’s no sign that refers it as such but that’s what Carpenter calls it:

From where did Carpenter get the idea that Gerry’s friends surfed? It seems clear from Carpenters words that only the McCanns were to be seen around the tennis courts. The others who appeared to join them at dinner, he assumes they were… surfing.

We wonder which of the 2 out of 3 friends of Gerry these 2 “surfing friends” were. Or better, which one wasn’t, David, Russ or Matt?

We bet that it was David who wasn’t. He’s required to be next to the McCanns when Yvonne Martin arrives so it cannot be him.


4. Let's get lost and stuck in a language barrier

Then the three, Carpenter, Russ and Matt “walked towards the supermarket and we ended up stopping at the reception opened 24 hours ”:

Why do they go towards the Supermarket? Carpenter doesn’t mention the reason why and we find that strange. Did they just decide to walk down the road? We think it would be perfectly natural to have said they were going there to get something to eat or drink. Why otherwise go down the street, if not to go to the supermarket?

But what doesn’t make any sense is saying “walked towards the supermarket and ended up stopping at the reception opened 24 hours”. It’s like saying “I was heading towards Big Ben and ended up in Liverpool.”

No one goes from the Tapas reception towards a supermarket 100m (109yds) down the road and ends up walking an extra 175m (290yds) without realising it and ends up in a completely different road altogether. The conversation must have been really interesting.

It's fascinating how easily people “get lost”, “walk in circles and “end up” in Praia da Luz. It must be have been very poorly conceived urbanly.

Why not just say, “we went to the main reception, passing by the Baptista supermarket”? Why the need to arrive at the 24h reception by surprise?

So they “ended up stopping” at the main reception.

What happens there? Did they go and ask someone for an update of the situation? If the reception knew anything new about Maddie?

No, one of them decides to make a phone call: “where one of the men tried to talk to one of the Portuguese employees in the attempt to make a phone call, but the communication became complicated because the employee didn’t speak English and the man didn’t speak Portuguese”.

This, on first glance, appears to be the most ridiculous sentence written in the PJ Files. Not one of the most ridiculous but the most ridiculous one.

In the  Ocean Club 24h Reception, in the Algarve, Portugal’s most tourist oriented region of the country, in a hotel facility with approximately 100% English-speaking clients, a receptionist doesn’t speak English?!!

Please note it was “one of the Portuguese employees” which means there were other around who were just as helpless linguistically!

We would be more likely to buy a story from someone claiming they were kite-surfing in the middle of the Pacific and were suddenly blinded by a sand storm before buying this one.

This one is just too ridiculous.

Only it isn’t.

Yes, it’s over-egging an already over-egged pudding but it’s not ridiculous.

First, who makes the phone call and to whom? Or why the need for the call?  Carpenter doesn't explain and neither Matt nor Russ speak of this trip, by accident, down to the main reception and then wanting to make a phone call and not being able to because of linguistic problems with the Portuguese employees of the resort.

That’s what Carpenter clearly states.

Carpenter’s intent, dear reader, is to plant the seed that no one around among the locals, spoke English. Not even the resort’s receptionists. They were no good to help. They didn't serve as translators as even they couldn't understand the simple request to make a phone call. To convey the idea that all was happening in a foreign land to a group of British people who found themselves among locals who only spoke their native language so it was up to the Brits to urgently fill that communication gap somehow. The Portuguese working at the resort simply didn't serve the purpose.

A story not that ridiculous as it first appears to be. Not ridiculous at all.


5. People, let's take our places on stage, please!

The group of three, Steve, Russ and Matt, who “had ended up stopping” in the Ocean Club’s main reception, and on failing to be able to make a phone call, decide to go back to the Tapas reception or as Carpenter calls it, the MW reception.

Maybe to make the phone call from there?

No, they just to return there, apparently: “we returned to the MW reception where I asked whether there was anything I could do to help so that they would let me know…”:

So where did the need to make the phone call go?

Carpenter doesn’t say which route they take to return but we’re supposing they’re intelligent enough to go the shortest route possible.

Why the reason for this Tapas reception – 24h reception – Tapas reception trip, we’re not told. We're only told that in the middle of it one of them remembered to make a phone call, can't and doesn't attempt to make it afterwards.

Were they going between receptions thinking the abductor, on seeing Maddie in broad daylight and feeling disappointed changed his mind about the “product” he had with him, would return the little girl to the main reception or drop her off at the Tapas reception?

What were Matt and Russ doing in the first place waiting at the entrance of the Tapas complex when Carpenter first arrives?

Wouldn’t it be better for them to be waiting sitting down inside the Tapas area for whatever, or whoever, they were waiting for?

Apparently, on the return trip both Russ and Matt agreed to let him know if there was anything he could do, so Carpenter “returned to my apartment by the same route as the previous night. Upon nearing my apartment…”:

So as can be seen, from the moment he heard the news on GMTV, Carpenter had one busy morning that day:

He does that morning what we call a “4-phase-walk”:

1. Alone, from apartment to Tapas reception;

2. With Russ and Matt (we suppose) from Tapas reception to 24h reception;

3. With Russ and Matt (we suppose) from 24h reception to Tapas reception;

4. Alone from Tapas reception to “nearing my apartment”

An absolutely pointless walk Tapas reception – 24h reception – Tapas reception trip. Started for no reason, didn't reach any objective and just ending where it started.

It does beg the question, if there was nothing to be done, why did Carpenter return to the Tapas reception when the group left the 24h Reception? Wouldn't make more sense for him to go from there to his apartment directly without making a long round trip?

Why? Because it gives a reason for Carpenter to approach his apartment by a route that passes nearby Murat's property. And, by sheer coincidence, just as he's doing that he hears a voice. “A male voice coming from the garden next to my apartment”

Not just any voice but that of a soon to be translator.


6. Conflicting stage props

Let’s see where exactly Carpenter says he is when he hears this voice:

 “…and returned to my apartment by the same route as the previous night. Upon nearing my apartment I heard a male voice coming from the garden next to my apartment. This would be the voice of Murat, correct?”

He is nearing his apartment when he’s walking in the semi-circular pathway nearing his apartment. Let's put him right at the nearest point he can be to Murat's property:

The orange star shows where Carpenter says he is when he says hears Murat’s voice.

Carpenter is in our opinion painting a picture.

He has up to now shown that he was staying so close to Robert Murat that if had then known he would have paid more attention to his neighbour and would now be able to make transcripts of every conversation the man had on the phone when in his the garden. That's how close Carpenter wants us to think he was to Murat without realising it.

He has shown that his commitment to the case from him having had a “buddy-morning” with 2 of the T9, Russ and Matt.

He has shown there’s a serious communication gap between the locals, which include the authorities and Ocean Club employees, and the many English speakers there, which includes not only the T9 but other guests who could prove to be crucial witnesses.

He has now placed himself to be able to accidentally meet Murat.

That moment in time when he’s nearing his apartment and hears “a male voice coming from the garden next to my apartment”

But Carpenter is not in his apartment. He's across a cul-de-sac and some trees and bushes from the South-West corner of Murat's property.

Shall we say IF Murat was perched up on the South-West corner of his property there would be about 15 metres (50 ft) between the two with no apparent line of sight between them due to the vegetation on both sides.

But what is the likelihood of Murat even being in that corner?

As we'll find out, the question Murat wants so desperately to ask is “what is happening, or what is going on?", so why not just open the front gate and try and find out himself?

Wasn't that exactly what Carpenter had done that morning? Didn't Carpenter simply exit his apartment and set about finding out what was going on instead of going to the balcony of his apartment and calling out?

So why would Murat go to a corner of the property filled with vegetation and wait there to see if he could see someone to call out and pop the question?

Note the further in Murat may be inside his property, the further away he will be from Carpenter so even the likely to have been able to be aware of Carpenter's presence when he passes on his way to his apartment.

Looking at the pictures taken from inside Murat's property, we don’t see Robert Murat being anywhere near the South-East corner of his property.

Carpenter seems to agree with us: “Yes. This garden is situated at the other side of the passage way from my apartment block and is enclosed by net fence of about 1.80 m in height, the garden is thick and it was not possible to see inside …”

Let's overlook that and see, when exactly Carpenter says he makes contact with Murat?

“At some stage I managed to see clearly inside the garden, but I did not know who the owner of the house was and I never saw anyone inside the garden or the house or see anyone leaving until the moment that I heard a voice calling me. Then a voice called me from over the hedge”

So now, he’s no longer nearing his apartment but is actually on the cul-de-sac making the best efforts to look inside Murat’s garden. He has gone and made a cross-country short-cut between the bushes and trees that are between the cul-de-sac and the pathway he was on.

But what is important to realise is that this clearly shows that Murat calls him not once but twice.

Once when Carpenter nears his apartment (otherwise he would have entered it and joined his family) and the second time when Carpenter is trying to look inside the garden.

So the scenario described by Carpenter is one that shows some despair on Murat’s part. Why would Robert be calling over a netted fence of 1,80m in height (6ft), thick with vegetation to a man he probably cannot see?

Only an urgent reason would make 2 complete strangers walk on each side of a high netted fence looking for a gap through which they could talk to each other. It sounds more like the story of someone inside a prison trying to communicate with a friend outside.

But so many strange things have happened and before we get hit by a stray pig from the sky let’s assume Robert Murat was really desperate and was jumping up and down at the South-West corner of his property shouting “what is happening, or what is going on?” to whoever could hear him.

Carpenter, the good Samaritan of this story, hears his cries 15yds away, with bushes and trees in between, not to speak of a building. He cross-countries through bushes and trees, to get to the cul-de-sac and desperately looks to find a gap in the fence through which he may communicate with the man inside on the other side, who he doesn't know, and when they're finally able to communicate he hears the question made in despair, “what is happening, or what is going on?".

The suspense certainly calls for a stunned silence on Carpenter’s part. But he quickly reels back and is able to reply “that a three year old girl had disappeared”.

And what does the distressed person reply? Wait for it… wait for it… “I am going to come round to talk to you"

What?!?

Why didn’t he do just that in the first place?

Why didn’t he open his front gate and simply looked down the road and see the strange activity that was going on about 100m from the front of his house?

And if there was nothing to be seen because all was quiet, then wouldn’t the Baptista supermarket be the natural place to head towards to try to find out what was going on?

It seems that Murat is not that much of a nosy character after all. He prefers, according to Carpenter, to hole himself up in his property and from there call out to whoever can hear him. It makes perfect sense. Not.

But as we don’t want to be bombarded with pigs coming down on us we’re really, really, really going bend over backwards and pretend whatever Carpenter has said did indeed happen: Murat for some reason was desperate and calls out into the cul-de-sac, Carpenter comes to his rescue, they're able to see each other on separate sides of a netted fence somewhere along the cul-de-sac, Murat asks, Carpenter replies and Murat gets a “I am going to come round to talk to you”.

Murat comes around and there you have it: a chance encounter between a guest and an ex-pat.

7. “In-synch” is not necessarily coordinated

The problem with Carpenter’s tale is not exactly it's total lack of credibility.

That would be serious enough but Carpenter's biggest problem is that he's proven wrong. By whom? By no other than Robert Murat, the man he's supposed to have encountered by mere chance. Or better said, by what Murat has said on May 14, 2007:

“On Friday, 04/05, woke around 09:00, took a bath, went to the kitchen to his mother, the latter told him that something terrible had happened, because a child had disappeared in Praia da Luz, according to 'Sky News' that she had been watching. At once the respondent and his Mother went to look in the garden, walled with a fence of 1m in height [looking at the pictures we tend to go more with Carpenters 1,80 netted fence with vegetation], checking if the child had managed to enter, which in a way was almost impossible without aid [even he recognises at once how ridiculous it is to have searched garden, at least with that urgency]. In one corner of the garden is a greenhouse, which was searched, and then they saw an English passer-by on the outside, he does not know the identity. When asked about this, he was told that the child had disappeared.”

So it’s when Robert and Jenny Murat had just finished searching the greenhouse on the corner that Murat first makes contact with Carpenter.

First, let’s see where said greenhouse is:

The greenhouse is on the North-East corner of the property, the furthest away from where Carpenter says he was when he says he first hears someone call from that property [note Murat makes no reference to this calling].

This means that around 70m (230 ft) separate Carpenter from Murat when the former says he hears someone calling from that property. A house and lots of vegetation in-between.

A call Murat makes no mention of making.

Without this call, there’s absolutely no reason for Carpenter to be in that cul-de-sac as he was heading towards his apartment and would have no reason to not go inside.

Also note that Murat is very clear when he says “and then they saw an English passer-by on the outside”, the “they” being him and Jenny Murat.

Carpenter makes no reference to Robert’s mother whatsoever.

And Murat Robert doesn’t mention saying “I am going to come round to talk to you”

8. A question of time

To add to Carpenter’s “crash-and-burn” on how he and Murat meet, Robert corrects himself about this particular episode in his statement of July 10, 2007:

“Further to what he said about Friday morning he intends to change the time that he woke up. In listings of his fixed phone it says that he made a call to Michaela at 08:27, which he presumes he must have done, despite not remembering the contents of the conversation nor even having made that call, and therefore he did not wake at 09:00 but before that time.”

So he no longer gets up at 09:00. Half an hour before, at 08:27 he makes a phone call. One that on May 14, 2007 he doesn’t remember making and even when correcting himself he only admits he may have made it because it is registered. So it's not exactly a passionate call made on waking up. He's already awake.

So around 08:27 Robert is most likely heading for breakfast when a little after his mother tells him about the tragic events. “At once the respondent and his Mother went to look in the garden” which wouldn’t take more than 10 minutes and when they are coming out of the greenhouse, they see Carpenter.

We’re talking about 08:40/08:50.

This begs the question, at what time did Carpenter wake up?

Note that up to this point in time, Carpenter makes no reference about breakfast. Did he leave for the Tapas reception after he and his family had breakfast? If so, where? At home or at the Mill? Or are the Carpenters also one of those families who have breakfast in their apartment, paying for the food while they have it already included in the price at the resort’s restaurant?

Carpenter makes no mention of breakfast. Neither for him or his family. We simply don’t know if he left for the Tapas reception after he and his family had breakfast.

One could say that the Carpenters stuck to their usual routine, which would be the family going to the Mill for breakfast, returning and only then switch on GMTV and hear the news about Maddie.

For him to be in the cul-de-sac at 08:40/08:50 means he has to have woken up, washed and got dressed [taken or not his breakfast at the Mill, and if he did please allow time for that], watched GMTV and only then started his “4-phase-walk” - from apartment to the Tapas reception , wasting some time there engaging in some sort of conversation, walk leisurely towards the Baptista supermarket and end up stopping at the 24hour reception [which is only more than double the distance to the supermarket and on a completely different street], watch the frustrated attempt of one of the T9 men, Russ or Matt, failing to make a simple phone call, decide to return together to the Tapas reception and again waste some time engaging in small talk about where he could be found if they needed something from him and then walk back, with no need to hurry, to his apartment.

The story about the Ocean Club receptionist not being able to speak English is becoming more credible in comparison with the Carpenter-Murat chance get-together.

9. Boy, am I glad I found you!

But the most important part of what has been said above, is that even with all the ridiculousness, it's that the statements from Murat and Carpenter match!

Their statements tally up on the essential.

First, Murat agrees with Carpenter that they met with the former inside the property and the latter in the cul-de-sac.

They both agree that it’s Murat who asks Carpenter something and in reply gets “told that the child had disappeared”.

They both agree that it is Carpenter who introduces Murat to Gerry to help out with the translation.

Carpenter says:

“…and he did this, walked round to come over towards me and said "I have lived here for fourteen years, I speak Portuguese fluently and I can help to translate", and we introduced ourselves, he told me he was Robert and this was the first time I had seen this man. Robert mentioned that he had a daughter in Norfolk who was the same age as Madeleine, and that is why he was able to understand what they were going through. We walked back along the path that I had taken to Gerry's apartment and I explained that Robert spoke Portuguese fluently, he told Gerry that it was important to have someone who spoke the language so that nothing would be lost in translation.. And that was how Robert Murat was presented as a translator.”

Murat says:

“Accompanied by that person, he went to the place of the disappearance, and was introduced to the parents of the child, as he spoke the two languages, Portuguese and English. Assumes that the passer-by would be staying at the Luz Ocean Club, in the block opposite the home of the respondent. This individual already knew the parents of MADELEINE, or met them at the time. He started a conversation with the family of the child, offering to help.”

Both agree that if it wasn’t for Carpenter, Murat apparently would have not become a translator in the case. By the hand of Carpenter, and we would even say pressure, Murat is introduced to Gerry.

Carpenter is very adamant on this point.

“DC Ferguson: During your conversations with Robert is there anything that you would like to comment on?

Carpenter: Humm, no, its probably nothing relevant, the only thing since all of this happened and from reading the papers, I'm not sure if I am right or wrong, but his involvement in the translations was due to my intervention, clearly it was I who, based upon what he told me, took him to see Gerry, humm..and just that, I do not know whether it was already explained and wasn't published in the papers or I do not know why (inaudible) I think that the reason for his involvement was because of me.

DC Ferguson: Mmm.

Carpenter: And then the first thing that he said was "Well, I did not actually offer my services, I "bumped" into this individual.

DC Ferguson: Yes.

Carpenter: That is the only, only thing that I would correct and I think it is a bit strange that someone would state that they offer themselves as a volunteer, or the way in which it really happened after having told me that he spoke Portuguese fluently, I said to him "Well, in this case that could be useful" and afterwards accompanied him - and that was how he (inaudible) thought that it was a bit strange. Because the way he said it gave the impression that it was voluntary.”

According to Carpenter, Murat was not a volunteer but was convinced by him to go and be introduced to Gerry to help translating.

Do note the arrogance of Carpenter’s statement.

It’s as if the Portuguese authorities don’t exist. It’s Gerry who, according to Carpenter, runs the show. Gerry has, apparently the power to decide on who or not becomes a translator. This is quite telling about the spirit with which the British, namely the guests, looked at the problem before them.

One way was to look as if the Ocean Club practically didn’t exist, they were just local people. It was Mark Warner, a mere tourist operator, who ran the resort.

The other way was to look at it as an exclusively British problem to be solved only by the British. The local authorities? Their job was simply to do what they were told.

10. The importance of not being a volunteer

To those justifying Murat’s enthusiastic participation in the case to his over-eager nature to volunteer must recognise that he put his over-eagerness in his pocket when the moment came to… volunteer.

The statements made by both him and Carpenter make it clear that it is much more Carpenter pushing Murat into becoming a translator than him wanting to be one.

He comes across as a timid ex-pat, one who literally doesn't leave his property to try and find out what was happening, being introduced to Gerry by an eager guest, who at this point in time has seen NOTHING suspicious about the case [except a vague “Madeleine, Madeleine” which his wife may have heard when they left Tapas the night before and about which we’ll speak in a future post] and who barely knows Gerry McCann.

Mind you, as the reader will be able to see in future posts, Murat almost immediately loses any and all shyness and is invaded by the spirit of eagerness.

Only his entrance into the scene is discreet and by the hand of another.

We hope that readers can understand what Carpenter’s main mission was: for him to be the reason Murat is introduced into the process.

A guest freshly aware of a linguistic problem who happens to encounter an ex-pat who speaks Portuguese and convinces him to help.

This way a very important thing is achieved, Murat comes into the process “out-of-the-blue”, or by the unsuspected hand of a guest, to help people who he supposedly hasn’t met before.

It Murat had walked out of his house and gone to the apartment 5A area and after asking what was going on would offer his help someone could start wondering why his interest in the case. Coming by the hand of another, who he also hadn’t met before, would explain that he only came into the case by… sheer accident, the result of a chance encounter.

With Carpenter’s help he becomes the perfect mole inside the investigation. Well, not exactly perfect because his exaggerated curiosity in the proceedings fired up red flags within the PJ investigation. As Inspector Pedro Varanda says on May 11, 2007:

“As an example, it should be highlighted that he has asked insistently and repeatedly the signatory in relation to the identity of possible suspects, to the strategy that would be outlined by the responsible coordination for the current investigation and to the diligences that eventually would be foreseeable in the next days.

In view of this attitude, because it was so unusual and absolutely untimely it immediately raised in me an enormous suspicion, I always retorted, urging that interlocutor to take conscience of the duties to which he was attached, due to the quality [job] he had assumed within the present investigation, highlighting that it was currently in the inquiry phase, and, naturally under the cover of judicial secrecy.”

Here we have to go back to what Murat told a witness, Jez Wilkins, about the fact that Rastaman had been eliminated as a suspect because it was determined he was a local individual. A clear breach of his duties as a translator in an ongoing investigation.

As we said, all could be attributed to an over-eager personality. That of someone who wants to tackle out of the best of good-wills.

Unfortunately for Murat and Carpenter there isn’t enough good-will to explain why both their statements are so well synchronised in terms of getting Murat being a translator, starting with both saying [with all the discrepancies shown] they met in a cul-de-sac where one, Carpenter, had absolutely no reason to be.

But for the story to fulfill its objectives the encounter between them has to be by chance. That means Carpenter has to be in that cul-de-sac unexpectedly [only goes there because he hears a call on his way back to apartment] and Murat needs to be inside the property when he sees the guest [reason why he feels the urgent need to search the garden knowing full well, as he does recognise, that it would be impossible for the child to have entered his property – note – without help].   

Who was lying? Carpenter? Or was it Murat? It seems to us, both. We would love to see a reconstruction of their chance-encounter.

In our post “Bladderman” we said the following:

“Some of the detractors of the swinging theory ask the question: why would people lie for a group of people they didn't know from anywhere?

Now they have another question they must ask: why would 2 members of a group of people lie for a person, Jez Wilkins, who one of them, Gerry, had only met that week?”

Today we add a third question to be asked: why would an ex-pat and a guest who supposedly have never met each other have synchronised statements describing something that evidently didn’t happen?

About Carpenter’s other missions, we will speak about them later.



Post Scriptum (Feb 16, 2015 10:30)

In this post we received the following comment from GP:

“Anonymous 13 Feb 2015, 14:48:00

"We walked back along the path that I had taken to Gerry's apartment and I explained that Robert spoke Portuguese fluently,.."

Had he previously been at 'Gerry's apartment?' ... Assume he means the 'MW reception' he referred to earlier that morning ... right? :)

GP”

We went as far as congratulating GP, and “complaining” that what he had spotted would spoil a bit a follow-up post on Carpenter.

However, both we and GP were misled by a mistranslation of what is the files. It’s subtle but changes the meaning entirely.

In the files, we don’t have the original English version of the rogatory statement but its translation into Portuguese.

The translation above says “Voltamos de regresso pelo caminho que eu tinha percorrido até ao apartamento do Gerry e expliquei que o Robert falava fluentemente Português…”

This translates to “We returned by the path I had taken to Gerry’s apartment and I explained that Robert spoke Portuguese fluently”.

The difference is that Carpenter is saying that he retraced his steps from where he was, in the cul-de-sac, to go to apartment 5A and not saying he’s been to apartment 5A before.

Does this better understanding of what he said make this bit of his statement less compromising?

No. It’s as compromising. But it does aggravate Murat’s participation in this episode.

First thing as that it remains valid the question how does Carpenter know where Gerry’s apartment is? Not because he's been there, but to know where to go and find Gerry and introduce Murat to him.

Do guests in Luz know where each other are staying? For example, does Gerry know where Carpenter’s apartment is? Does Carpenter know where Gerry’s surfer friends’ apartments are? If all answers are affirmative, one must wonder why. As Carpenter says, in Luz, “here was different because we could find the same person two or three times a day, others we could pass three or four days without seeing them because one is on this side and the others on the other side...”

There's nothing in Carpenter's statement that indicates he meets the McCanns two or three times a day outside the tennis courts. So where does he know where Gerry would be for him to be able to take Murat there?

There’s nothing in his statement that says he does know.

According to him “all was very quiet and there was no one around”. Only Gerry surfing friends, as he calls them, were there and they only tell him that “Madeleine had been kidnapped on the night before”.

Nowhere Carpenter says that they identified the apartment. He just “thinks they were waiting for news from the Portuguese Police” and then the three of them walk down the road towards the supermarket.

So from where does Carpenter know where Gerry McCann lives?

But to make things even worse for Carpenter, as of that morning, Gerry is no longer in block 5 but in block 4, to where the McCanns moved.

Again, the question must be asked, how did Carpenter know where to go to introduce Murat to Gerry? We are supposing that “Gerry’s apartment” is where he 's now staying and not apartment 5A. After all he did introduce Murat to him, so the three did meet. According to Carpenter and Murat.

But let’s speculate in favour of Carpenter.

Let’s suppose that during the initial conversation with surfer friends, they pointed out apartment 5A to Carpenter and went as far as telling him that the McCanns were now staying in block 4. That's from where, speculating, Carpenter knows where to find Gerry.

The problem for Carpenter about this “let's-introduce-Murat-to-Gerry” trip is where it starts.

It starts exactly where happens the conversation between Carpenter and Murat where one tells the he would be useful as a translator and convinces him to offer his help.

It happens in the cul-de-sac. In front of Murat's property.

Remember, Carpenter leaves the pathway that he’s walking on his way back to his apartment that morning and enters the cul-de-sac (here we would like to point out there’s no passageway between the 2) only because he hears Murat calling.

He walks along the cul-de-sac, Northbound, trying to look inside Murat’s property to see through the high netted fence with thick vegetation who he has heard calling. At some point he’s able to see inside and Murat asks him the question to which he answers.

This causes Murat to say “I’ll come around to talk to you”.

We’re assuming when Murat came around he exited the property by the front gate. We’re also supposing Carpenter walked towards him to meet him.

So we would estimate that they were very near the gate when they talked and decided to go to offer Murat’s help to the McCanns. We would say this conversation took place at point A. Certainly between points B and C:

If the reader was at point A and wanted to go to block 4, which route would the reader choose? The BLUE route or the YELLOW one?

Carpenter chooses the YELLOW one. Carpenter says he retraces his steps.

That means he takes Murat back into the cul-de-sac, into the semi-circular pathway and from there walking the “Jez Wilkins” route up to block 4 where the McCanns were then staying.

It doesn’t take a genius when standing at point A to realise that the road before him goes directly in the direction he intends to go. But Carpenter must have walked that week around Luz like Hansel dropping breadcrumbs wherever he went so he wouldn't get lost.

But what really stands out in this, is Murat’s attitude. He follows Carpenter right into the cul-de-sac! Certainly in the conversation, the word Tapas must have popped up. If nothing else, to say “it happened to a family I met at the Tapas bar”.

The expected reaction on Murat’s part would be to lead the way (he’s the ex-pat, Carpenter the guest) down Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva to block 4, where, as we have presumed, Carpenter knows the McCanns are staying by reasons we have speculated.

So why does Murat follow Carpenter on this ridiculous journey?