KazLux wrote:

Chapter 20 - 22

He knew that the definite solution of this case would come as the result of the hard work and the exhaustive exploration of every single theory that would be annexed to the process in the meantime.

If a single lead, pointing to precise persons or locations, failed to be explored until its natural elimination, it would always be a loose end that others would use to argue the neglect and the incompetence of the Portuguese police. Thousands of leads were explored by the investigators from the Algarve and from Lisbon.

In order to eliminate any doubts, over five hundred apartments and hundreds of vehicles were thoroughly searched in the area, and hundreds of persons were questioned. Kilometers and kilometers of coastline and inland terrain were searched. If Madeleine was in the area, dead or alive, she would have been found. But she wasn’t. Nor could she be.

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Excessively and exhaustively covered by the media, this disappearance took over the lives of people and many identified with the pain of Gerry and Kate, who on the other hand called all possible attention upon themselves.

Everything was scrutinized into the smallest detail, and the constant following of the process by the media lead to breaks of the judicial secrecy, and inevitably some details of the process were made public. With daily revelations about the developments, the McCann family started a steep decline in the public opinion, and lost the national support that they had enjoyed. They then opted to return to England, turning their backs on those who had supported them so intensely and unconditionally.

For this people, that still believes in Justice and that was genuinely solidary with the McCanns, this attitude, right after they had been made arguidos, was a stab of a knife into their back. For this people, they should have stayed at least until the lab test results were known, and then they would make a decision. Instead, for the moment that they chose, for what had happened two days earlier, for the silent preparation, and for the way that it was done, the Portuguese people think that the McCanns have fled Justice.

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Diplomacy tells us to treat our allies well, but not to the point of compromising heads of state with issues that are not solved yet.

The information services of each one of those states also counseled their leaders to prudently stay away from that matter. The ones at the Vatican are actually the best in the world.

Benedict XVI was the high point of a campaign that had started much earlier, with the visible and well publicized visits at the church in Luz, constantly appealing to religion and to God. The visit to the Vatican represented a conquest for those that were coordinating the pro-McCann campaign; yet, nothing could be done when that State decided to redraw all references to Madeleine from their official site, a clear message that they wanted to distance themselves from the case.

What led to this happening only days before the first lab test results were revealed? Coincidences? Surely not!

From that small, yet influent state, strong winds blew when Rome received the news that the McCanns held a key to the church, which had been given to them by a parishioner from a group that was associated to the Church, bypassing the local priest. The clerical hierarchy fell upon the Portuguese church, which after being admonished, ended up blaming the poor priest, who had not contributed to the situation at all.

Those nightly prayers, even though “God is everywhere�? were seen by many as visits to the only location where the couple thought there were no wiretaps, thus being able to talk freely. In reality, although they believed they were being tapped, at home and on the phone, the fact was that they were not.