ok, I see three problems with the scenario of Madeleine being taken to an empty house that evening:
1. That would involve another set of people knowing what happened. What are the odds of so many people who are not very close to the McCanns not breaking down or having remorse? My guess is that it is impossible for such a large number of people to remain complicit without one breaking down. Also, who would help conceal a body for people they have only just met? As an aside, there were dozen of people searching for Madeleine at night and at daybreak - leaving the body at the beach or another unspecified location overnight would most likely have resulted in her being found.
2. I seriously doubt that even a house owned by someone British on the Algarve would have a fridge/freezer big enough to hold the body of a small child. I am not sure if refrigeration would be enough to keep a body from decomposing so a freezer is really what's needed. This is Europe and fridges/freezers are much much smaller than in the US and most first homes will not have a freezer big enough to store more than a few items, never mind second homes.
3. Once the police was notified and the press was out, I think it would have been impossible for the McCanns to be able to move a body without a high risk of being observed.
The excerpt from the David Payne interview you quoted suggests that people had to come in and repair the fridge in the McCanns' flat, not that they used a fridge elsewhere. That's nothing unusual to happen at the beginning of the holiday season and most likely the fridge got repaired or replaced on their first day. At least that's what the routine is in southern European resorts.
It seems to me that the McCanns were lacking opportunity to get rid of a body unless someone else did it for them.
1. That would involve another set of people knowing what happened. What are the odds of so many people who are not very close to the McCanns not breaking down or having remorse? My guess is that it is impossible for such a large number of people to remain complicit without one breaking down. Also, who would help conceal a body for people they have only just met? As an aside, there were dozen of people searching for Madeleine at night and at daybreak - leaving the body at the beach or another unspecified location overnight would most likely have resulted in her being found.
2. I seriously doubt that even a house owned by someone British on the Algarve would have a fridge/freezer big enough to hold the body of a small child. I am not sure if refrigeration would be enough to keep a body from decomposing so a freezer is really what's needed. This is Europe and fridges/freezers are much much smaller than in the US and most first homes will not have a freezer big enough to store more than a few items, never mind second homes.
3. Once the police was notified and the press was out, I think it would have been impossible for the McCanns to be able to move a body without a high risk of being observed.
The excerpt from the David Payne interview you quoted suggests that people had to come in and repair the fridge in the McCanns' flat, not that they used a fridge elsewhere. That's nothing unusual to happen at the beginning of the holiday season and most likely the fridge got repaired or replaced on their first day. At least that's what the routine is in southern European resorts.
It seems to me that the McCanns were lacking opportunity to get rid of a body unless someone else did it for them.