So, working in a medical area myself, I know that a sizable percentage of hospital beds have had a dead person in them for a few hours in the past. The dog's handlers mentioned that the dogs could detect a speck of blood on a cloth that had been put through a washer 3 times, and smell the cadaverine scent 45 years after a body had been buried there for a short time--days.
It seems to me that a physician might well have tiny traces of cadaverine on his/her clothing (shoes, etc.--things worn repeatedly) that could have brushed against the side of the car and s/her was lifting his/her left leg into the car before closing its door. In the same way, as unlikely as it seems, items touched frequently at the end of a hospital workday could pick up this odor, even after handwashing. When people read to their kids at night, don't they often tuck them in with the favorite stuffie, too?
Was any of the 7 people with the McCanns a pathologist? He or she might have been in the apartment several times. He or she would almost REEK of it to the cadaver-sniffing dog, I'd guess.
I don't know why the cadaverine scent would be behind the sofa, but I know that when a window is stuck, I don't have the arm strength to lift it, and will have to get behind the sofa to have enough leverage. As for the window, if I realize I have left a ground-level window open (in the city!), or think I have, the first thing I do is try to push it open. If I can't, it's locked, If I can, I lock it. That's faster and easier than just looking. If I were agitated, I might slam harder, and make the only really distinct print with my whole palm.
Hiding her body behind the sofa or in a cupboard would be a foolish choice, as once the alarm was raised someone would look there for someone so small. As for the newspaper comment about the bed being on the floor: No; it looked about 6-8 inches off the floor, and in a pinch I could almost squeeze under there now! Certainly, as a flat-chested 8-10 year old I could have.
They might have given the children the equivalent of Tylenol PM--acetaminophen plus diphenhydrame (antihistamine)--but as physicians, they know the safe dose. It is unlikely the child would have died unless he had an allergic reaction. It seems to me it would be reflexive to begin CPR right away without considering whether she could be saved, if the mother found her not breathing.
They did seem to be in great pain the first few days. Shock would usually set in a little later, and doctors and we nurses are trained to restrain public emotion. This is for the benefit of their patients, but it comes in handy when someone wants to make you cry--as in they think you killed your own kid.
They probably feel horrendously guilty for their carelessness, and if they medicated the kids to sleep, even more so. This doesn't make them murderers, even though they may have felt that much guilt and privately called themselves murderers in a diary, therapy, etc..
The rental car was rented for the first time 2 week after she disappeared, per the Netflix documentary.
I think those people lurking around definitely had something to do with it. They probably worked in a team. The one who was approaching the other woman's 3 year old daughter was probably the scout, and the two blonde men the abductors. One stood outside the window, where he could see the McCann party. The other sneaked in, and handed her out the window where she could be bundled off behind the bushes a little way before they were visible--possibly out of the line of sight form the McCann party. If someone sill remained in the room when the other physician checked and "heard something", it might have been the inside one after Madeleine was already gone. This is how the window got unlocked.
If I were looking for a lost child, I'd frantically search the apartment, then try the window, then run into the street screaming for the child by name, then run for the spouse to help me search the streets. The spouse might have felt the need to search the apartment, too, then the streets, and only then call the police, or ask someone else to call while frantically searching the streets.
I wonder if:
1) Another medical person with cadaverine on his person--like another doctor in the party--might have touched those things, or some items that were later packed into the car trunk. Whether any number of previous renters had lost a speck of blood behind the sofa. It was cleaned daily by people who might wash the window, stand behind the sofa to get to it, etc. Usually these are women who bleed every month.
2) The parents commented how unusually tired Maddy was on the way home, falling asleep earlier than usual. That's usually about an hour or less after the dose. Where were the kids before they came home? Was it an inside job, maybe someone at the daycare "Ocean Club"? If a trafficking ring or lone pedophile wanted lots of opportunities, he or she would be doing well to work there, seeing booking records, scouting kids, etc.
3) Liars often incorporate a little truth which helps them add an authentic flavor to their stories, or provide (unasked) a reason for evidence that hasn't been found yet (right, detectives?), and they usually add more detail than necessary. What if the collectors for "3 little rich kids from another country whose parents were just killed" was meant to cover for them later when all 3 McCann children were stolen? Or when someone might see them with 3 little children from anywhere, when they were not the parents? And what if the scout knocked on doors to confirm a young child lived where expected, or to get a closer view of a certain type of a child? If the hotel register shows "with party of 3 children" it might need confirmation if the only other info was a beachside sighting or photo.
4) HOW was that long-haired man with the white van cleared? Because they never saw him with a kid? What if scouting was his main or only role?
5) The woman expecting a delivery in Barcelona might simply be a (more polished, wealthy) leg of the journey. (Who is out on a street late at night waiting to have a child delivered for a legitimate adoption--even a private one?) If so, she would have a cover story ready if apprehended. It might go like, "I was told she was an orphan, and I have always wanted a child". This would dovetail nicely with the orphanage story if both were caught; they could both claim to be duped by a fake orphanage. Of course for her family I wish the adoption angle turns out to be true.
6) It is unlikely that Maddy knows who she is, being so young when taken. But it's also possible that all that publicity about the odd right eye raised her chances of being recognized and so keeping her alive anywhere but in a secret compound away from the outside world would seem risky.
I feel in my gut she is still alive, and may still be found. If she knows she is not with her natural parents, who knows what she was told about them? Abductors (I have read) usually tell the kids that the parent gave or sold them away because they were bad kids and/or unwanted.
I think the "inside job" angle needs more exploration. Someone may have drugged the kids, wherever they were in the hour before being put to bed. Who were they with at that time?
And, sad to say, I wonder about the other members of the party. It would be hard for any of them to molest Maddy, kill her and hide the body. But no one should be outside suspicion if they were considering the parents.
Lastly, I feel very sad for J. Peri Bnnaez, the private detective who was traumatized by what he had to see on the child-*advertiser censored* websites. He could even have post-traumatic stress disorder, or be depressed by what he "can never unsee", as he said. The McCanns really ought to consider re-hiring him, as he apparently feels as driven as anyone else besides the McCanns themselves to keep searching. He also risked his own emotional well-being to leave no stone unturned. Even now, unpaid, he can't stop trying to solve the puzzle.
