Portuguese police are investigating telephone calls between a Russian computer expert and their key suspect on the night Madeleine McCann was abducted.
Sergey Malinka, 22, insisted he had nothing to do with the four-year-old's disappearance after being questioned by detectives until the early hours of Thursday.
He said he was interviewed as a witness and not a suspect, and stressed he was "completely" innocent and had no criminal record in any country. But the Policia Judiciaria indicated that if more evidence came to light he could become a suspect.
Mr Malinka designed a website for Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat, who was named this week as the first "arguido", or suspect, in the case.
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa confirmed that a man was questioned but did not name him as Mr Malinka. He told a press conference in the town of Portimao: "He has been interviewed as a witness - a witness is not a suspect - but it may be during the course of the investigation things could change. "It's a very dynamic investigation. The suspect couldn't become a witness, but the witness could become a suspect."
It is understood there were several phone calls between Mr Malinka and Mr Murat on the night when Madeleine disappeared from a holiday flat in the seaside village of Praia da Luz.
Asked about this, Mr Malinka said: "I'm afraid I can't tell you. That's privileged information, I can't share it with anybody." But the Russian IT expert did confirm that his name was in Mr Murat's phone, adding: "They have been questioning everybody in his phone book."
Meanwhile, a website set up to spread the image of missing Madeleine McCann across Europe received five million hits in 24 hours, organisers said.
Revealing details of supporters and the scale of the campaign, Michael Wright, a relative of the McCanns, said: "This is just the start. Each day brings more offers of help."
Speaking outside the apartment in Praia da Luz, where the McCanns have spent the last two weeks waiting for news of Madeleine, Mr Wright said the family had been overwhelmed with offers of support.
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