THREE women are the key players in determining whether Scotland Yard's costly Madeleine McCann investigation will succeed or fail.
The trio hold top positions in the Portuguese judiciary and police and all have privately vowed to do everything in their powers to discover the fate of Madeleine and bring those responsible to justice.
For the first time in years all the vital departments are working in tandem, which is a major relief to Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who heads the Yard's Operation Grange team trying to solve the seven-year riddle.
Ines Sequeira, the chief state prosecutor covering Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished in May 2007, and the one with the most power, has given the case priority status.
The 49-year-old mother of four high flier is a breath of fresh air in the department.
She has instructed her team to let nothing stand in the way of bringing a successful conclusion to the investigations.
She is based in a huge office in the grand marble-clad court house in Portimao, a large coastal town some 12 miles from Luz on the Algarve.
It will be she who decides on whether to prosecute or not.
Slim and stylishly dressed Ms Sequeira trained in Lisbon, where she is believed to have met her husband, now a judge.
She was the main prosecutor in the town of Silves, 10 miles from Portimao for years, working on robberies, murders, sex offences and assaults.
A colleague said: "She quickly built up a very good reputation in Silves, particularly with her work on homicides.
"She is very precise and demands high standards.
"She can see mistakes before others realise their significance and weeds them out.
"No one was surprised she won promotion.
"She likes to work away from the spotlight, quietly and methodically in her office."
She works with Ana Paulo Rito, the criminal co-ordinator of the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao, the role once taken by Goncalo Amaral, who is now locked in a libel action with Kate and Gerry McCann over his claims that Madeleine died in apartment 5a of the Ocean Club.
A legal source said: "Both women are clear thinking, driven, hard-working and utterly determined to do whatever they can to solve the case.
"They have brought fresh minds to the case and have similar character traits with no big egos and a quiet and efficient work ethic. The 'no big egos' part should make a world of difference.
"They are both ambitious and career minded and they want results without cutting any corners.
"Both are quite new in their positions and they want to prove themselves and bring pride to their departments."
The third woman is Ms Helen Monteiro, who leads the Portuguese detectives' review of the case in Porto in the north of the country.
Work by her team has greatly helped the Yard in their efforts to finally solve Madeleine's disappearance.
Indeed, it was her work and her team's work that resulted in Portuguese Justice re-opening the Madeleine McCann case last year.
Three Algarve men have been given arguido or suspect status and the Yard wants to speak to them further.
Last week there was clear evidence of the new spirit of cooperation with an unprecedented meeting about potentially case breaking DNA material from the flat where Madeleine McCann was taken.
Hairs found inside the apartment have not been matched to any of the people who were known to have entered the property before or after Madeleine vanished aged nearly four in May 2007.
So now they are set to be examined in Britain or Portugal in the coming months.
Francisco Brizida, Portugal's leading expert in forensic science, last week told Yard officers that curtain fabric, potentially harbouring DNA samples, is also available for testing.
The trio hold top positions in the Portuguese judiciary and police and all have privately vowed to do everything in their powers to discover the fate of Madeleine and bring those responsible to justice.
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| Madeleine McCann - the day she disappeared |
Ines Sequeira, the chief state prosecutor covering Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished in May 2007, and the one with the most power, has given the case priority status.
The 49-year-old mother of four high flier is a breath of fresh air in the department.
She has instructed her team to let nothing stand in the way of bringing a successful conclusion to the investigations.
She is based in a huge office in the grand marble-clad court house in Portimao, a large coastal town some 12 miles from Luz on the Algarve.
 |
| Ines Sequeira |
Slim and stylishly dressed Ms Sequeira trained in Lisbon, where she is believed to have met her husband, now a judge.
She was the main prosecutor in the town of Silves, 10 miles from Portimao for years, working on robberies, murders, sex offences and assaults.
A colleague said: "She quickly built up a very good reputation in Silves, particularly with her work on homicides.
"She is very precise and demands high standards.
"She can see mistakes before others realise their significance and weeds them out.
"No one was surprised she won promotion.
"She likes to work away from the spotlight, quietly and methodically in her office."
 |
| Ana Paula Rito |
A legal source said: "Both women are clear thinking, driven, hard-working and utterly determined to do whatever they can to solve the case.
"They have brought fresh minds to the case and have similar character traits with no big egos and a quiet and efficient work ethic. The 'no big egos' part should make a world of difference.
"They are both ambitious and career minded and they want results without cutting any corners.
"Both are quite new in their positions and they want to prove themselves and bring pride to their departments."
The third woman is Ms Helen Monteiro, who leads the Portuguese detectives' review of the case in Porto in the north of the country.
Work by her team has greatly helped the Yard in their efforts to finally solve Madeleine's disappearance.
Indeed, it was her work and her team's work that resulted in Portuguese Justice re-opening the Madeleine McCann case last year.
Three Algarve men have been given arguido or suspect status and the Yard wants to speak to them further.
Last week there was clear evidence of the new spirit of cooperation with an unprecedented meeting about potentially case breaking DNA material from the flat where Madeleine McCann was taken.
 |
| The apartment from which Madeleine was taken |
So now they are set to be examined in Britain or Portugal in the coming months.
Francisco Brizida, Portugal's leading expert in forensic science, last week told Yard officers that curtain fabric, potentially harbouring DNA samples, is also available for testing.
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