Madeleine McCann mystery: Another theory

Any parent of a young child would have gone cold when the news of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann hit the world’s media in May this year. Since then there has been some criticism of the extent of the media attention. It’s a fair point –given the hundreds of thousands of children who go missing all over the world each year, why should the McCann’s story be the one that gets all the attention?

But no parent would have begrudged them the coverage because all of us would want the same thing if we found ourselves in that position.

And so Gerry and Kate found themselves driving a campaign that took them to the Vatican and an audience with the pope. They roped in celebrities the world over — Bryan Adams, David Beckham … the bandwagon filled up quickly. Even OR Tambo International Airport sported a massive billboard with a picture of Madeleine and information on the reward being offered. Kate and Gerry mobilised and milked the 21st-century media and spin machine in a way that any parent would have done, had they had access to the same resources.

And this weekend they were formally named as suspects by Portuguese police.

The media machine swung into action once more. Before you could yell “Don’t forget the sunblock”, Jeremy Thompson was out the front door of Sky News and on a plane to Portugal. Once there, with camera rolling, he could tilt his head to one side, put on his sincere face (which, let’s face it, is no different from any of his other faces) and intone breathlessly about these “startling new developments”. At his side on TV last night was an equally sincere Martin Brunt who has been immersed in the story since the beginning.

The changed status has also galvanised into action the friends, families, neighbours and people who once walked their dogs on the same pavement as Kate, all expressing outrage and bemoaning the injustice of it all to anyone who will listen and many who won’t.

So did they do it? I don’t believe it. To pull off a crime like this, and then to stand in the glare of the media spotlight for so long, would require behaviour that the Independent newspaper says would display “a level of callous chutzpah unequalled in the history of crime”. In fact that same Independent article gives the most reasoned and factual re-telling of the story I’ve seen. It’s worth a read.

The net effect of all this coverage and exposure, in the light of the naming of the McCanns as suspects, is that for the rest of their years (assuming Madeleine is never found) they will find it impossible to shake off the doubt now cast in everyone’s minds. If they are 100% innocent, this is a travesty. They will have to live the rest of their lives not only with the sick feeling of the loss of their daughter in the pit of their stomachs, but also with the suspicious sideways glances of people on the street. That is a double tragedy. Because as much as we don’t want to believe they are guilty, there will always be a nagging doubt somewhere in the back of our minds.

But here’s a thought. Maybe, just maybe, this is all part of an elaborate plan by the Portuguese police. After weeks of fruitless searching they hit a dead end. Their only chance of success, now, is to win a psychological war with the kidnapper. So they sit the McCann’s down and say, “Guys, here’s what we’re going to do … we need to lull the kidnapper into a false sense of security. So we’re going to name you as suspects, splash it all over the world’s media. If Madeleine is still alive, the kidnapper might see this as an opportunity to move her. He’ll think he’s in the clear, and might make some mistakes along the way.”

It’s a desperately long shot — but it has some logic. The fact that the McCanns were allowed to return to Britain provides a glimmer of evidence that supports the theory. If they were genuinely being considered suspects on the basis of hard evidence, the police wouldn’t let them leave the country. To do so would involve them getting involved in a messy extradition should they ever move to the trial stage.

And if this elaborate plan works, the Portuguese police would have pulled off a coup and silenced all the critics who believe they have bungled the case from day one.

The parents would have had to agree to play the game — to act outraged when named as suspects; to orchestrate their friends and family to make public statements so that the story stays on top of the news bulletins; and to keep Jeremy Thompson in sunblock and prawns. That’s assuming, of course, that they’re in on the ruse. The police might also have decided not to tell them the logic behind their plan to get more authentic outrage.

It’s bold, it’s brazen and it is imaginative. Too much so for the Portuguese police? Possibly. But in a story that has played with the emotions of every parent in the world for a few months, anything is possible. And, hey, it just might work.