Dr Rachael Oldfield, however, in her statement of 4 May, is clear that Dr Matthew Oldfield did say he had checked on the children: “He had been to check the children's bedrooms, his own apartment where his daughter was sleeping but also that of the twins and Madeleine. He listened at both closed shutters and didn't hear any noise. He also checked to see if there was any noise in Russell O'Brien and Jane Tanner's apartment. He said that he hadn't heard any noise”. She elaborates still further on this in her statement of 10 May: “After about 4 minutes, MATTHEW returned to the table when they ordered the food, and said he had ‘listened’ to his daughter and to the O’BRIEN and MCCANN children, outside the front by putting his head [ear] against the shutters of the windows of their respective bedrooms and that everything was calm with the children”.
Dr Matthew Oldfield further muddied the waters by saying in his statement of 10 May that the main purpose of his departure from the restaurant was to chase up the Payne family, whom he said were late. Rachael Oldfield confirmed that in her statement of 4 May. He told the Portuguese police: “…David, Fiona and Dianne were still not present - and as he could see their apartment lights burning - he resolved to go to them, clarifying that he did not reach that apartment as those people were already on their way to the restaurant. He clarifies [further] that he met them near the living quarters, at the corner next to the main door of the McCann apartment. Benefiting from meeting them next to their apartment, he adds that, on his own initiative, he made a ‘listening check’ at the bedroom window of Madeleine McCann and the twins at 21h05”. According to this account, then, the full party did not assemble until 9.05pm, not 8.45pm.
Source : Tony Bennett
