The 10 p.m. check that found an open door and an empty bed

The key turned in the lock at approximately 10:00 p.m. on May 3, 2007.

Kate McCann stepped into the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

The door to the bedroom was open.

Madeleine's bed was empty.

Madeleine McCann was three years old, a British girl on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both physicians.

The family was staying at a resort in the Algarve, a stretch of coast known for its cliffs and quiet streets.

That evening, the McCanns were dining at a nearby tapas restaurant with a group of British friends.

They had been checking on their three children periodically throughout the meal.

The checks were routine.

The checks were quick.

The checks were supposed to be enough.

At 10 p.m., the routine ended.

Kate McCann found the door open and the bed empty.

What exactly happened in the apartment before that moment is not established by the record.

The door was open.

The bed was empty.

Madeleine was gone.

The discovery set off a global search, one of the most widely reported missing-person cases in history.

It also set off scrutiny, directed at the parents who had been a short walk away.

They were physicians.

They were on holiday.

They were checking on their children.

None of that answered the question of the open door.

The apartment stood near a tapas restaurant, close enough to reach in minutes.

The distance became a fact repeated in every account.

The distance became a measure of blame.

The distance became something the McCanns would answer for, again and again.

But at 10 p.m., there was only the door.

And the bed.

And the silence where a child should have been.

THE EVENING AT THE TAPAS RESTAURANT

The evening had the shape of any holiday night.

Kate and Gerry McCann sat at a nearby tapas restaurant with a group of British friends and other holidaymakers.

The adults talked, ate, drank.

The children were back at the apartment.

The parents had been checking on their three children periodically throughout the evening, according to later accounts.

The exact timing and details of those checks are not in the record.

What is known is that the restaurant was nearby, though the source does not specify the distance or whether the apartment was visible from the tables.

One of the friends dining that evening was Jane Tanner.

She later reported seeing a man carrying a child near the apartment.

The McCanns' other friends were part of the group that evening, but their specific actions are not detailed in the source.

Dinner continued.

Laughter, probably.

The ordinary rhythm of a resort evening.