# Voice Sheet — Scene at the Café --- *Marie is seated at a small wrought-iron table outside the only café on Main Street in Alborn, scrolling through the photos on her camera's LCD screen. A half-finished cappuccino sits beside her, gone cold. Hunter approaches, badge already in hand.* --- Hunter: "Afternoon, ma'am. I'm Detective Hunter Graves, Alborn PD. Mind if I sit down for a minute?" Marie: *glances up from her camera, eyes widening slightly* "...Bonjour?" Hunter: "Right. Uh — hi. Listen, I'm talking to folks around town about what happened last night over by the fairgrounds. The Lindgren kid — Danny Lindgren, seventeen years old — went missing sometime after eight p.m. Were you anywhere near the east side of town last night?" Marie: *her face pales; she clutches the camera against her chest* "Mon Dieu... encore une disparition? J'étais là-bas hier soir. Je prenais des photos du coucher de soleil près du terrain de foire et... j'ai entendu quelque chose. Un cri, je crois. Ça m'a glacé le sang." Hunter: *stares at her for a long beat, then slowly sits down across from her* "I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't catch any of that. Do you speak English?" Marie: *shakes her head, frustrated, pressing her hand to her chest* "Non, non... anglais, non. Je suis désolée. Mais écoutez — c'est important!" *She turns her camera around and begins scrolling urgently through photos, jabbing her finger at the screen.* "Regardez! Regardez ça! J'étais là, hier soir, au terrain. Il y avait quelqu'un — une silhouette — là, dans les arbres!" Hunter: *leans forward, squinting at the camera screen* "Hold on — is that the fairgrounds? Last night? You were there?" *He points at the photo, then at her, then at the timestamp on the screen.* "You... took... this... last night?" Marie: *nods vigorously* "Oui! Oui, hier soir! Et là —" *she swipes to the next photo, a blurry shape between the tree line and the old apple barn* "— cette ombre. Cette personne. Elle bougeait vers le bâtiment abandonné. J'ai eu tellement peur que je suis partie en courant. Je n'aurais pas dû partir. Mon Dieu, si c'était le garçon qui avait besoin d'aide..." Hunter: *runs a hand over his jaw, exhaling hard* "Ma'am, I wish to God I understood what you're telling me. I can see you're upset. And this photo — there's definitely something there." *He pulls out a small notebook and points at the blurry figure on the screen.* "This — person? Did you see this person?" Marie: *her eyes are glassy now; she nods* "Oui... une personne. Grande. Elle portait quelque chose — comme un sac, peut-être? Je ne sais pas. Il faisait sombre. Mais j'ai entendu ce cri, et après, plus rien. Le silence. Un silence terrible." Hunter: "Okay. Okay, I can see we've got a language situation here, but whatever you saw clearly rattled you. Can I —" *he mimes taking a photo of her camera screen with his phone* "— can I get a picture of these? Your photos?" Marie: *hesitates, then nods slowly, turning the camera back toward him* "D'accord... oui, prenez-les. S'il vous plaît, trouvez ce garçon. J'ai un mauvais pressentiment. Cette ville... il se passe quelque chose de terrible ici. Ce n'est pas la première fois, n'est-ce pas?" Hunter: *snaps several photos of her camera screen with his phone, then pauses, looking at her expression — the fear in it unmistakable in any language* "I don't know what you just said, but I've got a feeling you and I are thinking the same thing." Marie: *quietly* "Je regrette de ne pas pouvoir vous aider davantage. Si seulement je parlais votre langue..." Hunter: *opens his mouth to respond when his phone buzzes aggressively — he glances down at the screen and his face hardens* "Damn it." *He stands abruptly.* "That's the station. I've gotta go." *He points at her, then at the café, making a staying gesture.* "Stay — please. Stay in town. I'm going to find someone who speaks... uh..." *he gestures vaguely* "...whatever language that is, and I'm coming back. Okay? Stay?" Marie: *nods, wrapping both hands around her cold cappuccino* "D'accord. Je serai là. Soyez prudent, Monsieur le détective." Hunter: *gives her a firm nod, taps the table once with his knuckle, and turns to leave — then stops and looks back* "Thank you. Whatever you told me — thank you." *He strides off down Main Street, phone pressed to his ear. Marie watches him go, then slowly turns her camera back over in her hands and stares at the blurry figure in the trees. Her thumb hovers over the delete button — then she pulls the camera close to her chest and looks out at the quiet, ordinary street, where nothing seems wrong at all.* --- *End of scene.*