Not just your imagination, the leaves are definitely off to the sides. But judging from the reflection of the chair legs at the top of the photo, and perhaps there's a reflection of a light at the bottom of the photo, I'm thinking maybe those tiles are wet, maybe it's rained and the leaves have been washed over to the side. Or wind could do that too. But without knowing the local weather conditions at the time, that's just speculation on my part.
I think this particular picture, the one with the tables and chairs - may have been taken at a later date -
Marly posted a link to the Daily Mail news articel - in the article there is a video where you can see what the inside of the house and outside looked like 4 days after the investigation started - its a Police interactive video. The article also has pictures of the patio area, and the settings are different .
The link is here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...amily-home-four-days-Allison-disappeared.html
There are a few things I would question regarding the Daily Mail video pics of the outside -
- leaves leave an outline, and if something has been moved they leave a definite edge of the shape which has been removed - I notice this regarding boxes, buckets and around the bbq - leaves and water debris also settle on the top of things, as well as undergrowth such as the ferns - some of the items in the pictures seem to have moved and be clear of debris.
- anything with leaves underneath them have been placed there recently.
Some things which have regular weather exposure and should be grubby are clean on top - no leaves or water with debris.
There is a fair amount of mud on the patio in areas where it is not covered by the guttering - and there seems to be a gutter overflow mark on the patio bricks in line with the roof.
There may have been a bit of foot traffic by the time the photos were taken - but I can definitely see some things that don't gel with the natural line of fallen leaves and weather.
The carport is clear of leaves - it is leaf free basically.
Its hard to make a decision using any of those photos - in 4 days things could have changed a lot.
JMO
and its goodnight from me...
fftobed: