The night-walkers of Uganda

The McCanns: Exhausted and under suspicion
Level 1
Elementary
Pre-reading 1: What do you already know about the story?
1
Pre-reading 2: Key words
2
Match these keywords from the text with the definitions below:
toddlers suspects exhausted allege an accomplice under suspicion
1. ____________ – people the police think committed a crime
2. ____________ – very, very tired.
3. ____________ – someone who helps someone else commit a crime
4. If you are put ____________ , the police think you are guilty.
5. ____________ – to say someone is guilty of doing something wrong before it is proved
6. ____________ – very small children, just learning to walk
Now read the story quickly to check your answers to the questions in 1 and 2. 
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Exhausted and under suspicion, 
Madeleine’s family come home
Esther Addley
September 10, 2007
It has been a long journey home for Gerry and
Kate McCann, but soon after 1pm yesterday, 135
days after they had left their home in Rothley,
Leicestershire, the couple lifted their twin toddlers
out of a police people-carrier and shut their
front door.
Kate McCann left home on April 27 as the
mother of an “ordinary family of five”. Later, she 
often said that she could not think about coming
back as a family of four, without their daughter
Madeleine. In fact, their homecoming was even
more painful: the police now think perhaps they
killed their own daughter.
The couple looked very unhappy as they got out
of the vehicle. Mrs McCann carried her two-year-
old daughter, Amelie and Madeleine’s pink cuddly
cat. She always carries it, now her daughter has
disappeared. Mr McCann held their other twin,
Sean, in his arms.
A police officer followed them into their 
smart, new, redbrick house, where they have
lived for a year. A crowd of reporters and TV
crews watched, and there were noisy press
helicopters overhead.
Neighbours in the quiet road politely stayed
inside, but a small group of people were watching
at the end of the street on the edge of the pretty
village just north of Leicester.
People in Rothley had shown their support
for the couple in the weeks after Madeleine’s
disappearance, with hundreds of bunches of
flowers and yellow ribbons tied to its small war 
memorial. The flowers were removed some 
time ago, though some ribbons remain in the
local pub.
Mr and Mrs McCann decided to return yesterday.
But because they were suspects, they spent
most of the day before, phoning the Portuguese
authorities to get permission to come home.
Their journey home began just after 7am, and Mr
and Mrs McCann walked hand-in-hand from the
rented villa in Praia da Luz where they have been
living since July.
The couple drove to the airport with the twins in
their rented silver Renault Scenic. Police allege
that there was a trace of Madeleine’s blood
inside, but the McCanns did not hire the car until
25 days after she disappeared.
Lots of cars and motorbikes full of journalists
chased after them. One cameraman stood up
to film through the car sunroof while it drove at 
80mph. At Faro airport, Mr McCann drove into a
reserved area normally used by politicians and
VIPs, and they were taken through check-in to
the departure lounge.
The first two rows of seats on their easyJet flight 
to East Midlands airport were reserved for the
family, but a number of reporters were also on
their flight. At about 12.30pm they landed, and 
were met by even more film crews.
When Mr McCann came out of the airport, very
upset, he read a brief statement, his son still
asleep on his shoulder. Mr McCann thanked
people who had supported the couple during the
four months since Madeleine’s disappearance,
and said he and his wife had thought very
carefully before they decided to come home.
Although they are suspects, the Portuguese
police had let them keep their passports and
come back to Britain.
In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, Mr
McCann said that he and his wife, who police
seem to think is the main suspect in Madeleine’s
presumed death, with her husband as an
accomplice, were “fighting for [their] lives” to 
prove their innocence.
“We will clear our name and we will not give up
on Madeleine,” he told the News of the World.
Ten minutes after the couple’s arrival back home,
Mrs McCann’s uncle, Brian Kennedy, who is