# Voice Sheet: The Café on Main --- **Hunter:** "Excuse me, ma'am. Mind if I sit down for a moment?" **Marie:** *(looks up from her camera, startled)* "Oh... bonjour." **Hunter:** "Hey there. I'm Detective Hunter Graves, Alborn PD. I'm investigating some disappearances around town. Were you anywhere near the old orchard last Tuesday evening? We had a report of someone going missing out that way." **Marie:** *(her eyes widen, her voice trembling)* "L'homme... oui, j'étais là-bas. J'étais en train de photographier le verger au coucher du soleil et... j'ai vu quelque chose. Quelqu'un courait entre les arbres. Il y avait des cris. Mon Dieu, c'était terrifiant." **Hunter:** *(leaning back, blinking)* "I'm sorry — I didn't catch any of that. Do you speak English?" **Marie:** *(shaking her head slowly, clutching her camera to her chest)* "Non... je suis désolée. Anglais... non. Français seulement." **Hunter:** "French. Okay. Alright." *(rubs the back of his neck)* "Let me try this another way. The orchard —" *(mimes trees, points west toward the edge of town)* "— you were there? Tuesday?" **Marie:** *(nodding vigorously)* "Oui! Oui, le verger! Mardi soir!" *(She turns her camera around, scrolling through photos with shaking hands. She shows him the screen — a dusky shot of the orchard, and in the background, a blurred figure near the tree line.)* "Regardez. Regardez ça. Cet homme... il traînait quelque chose. J'ai eu tellement peur que je me suis cachée derrière un arbre." **Hunter:** *(studying the photo, eyes narrowing)* "What the hell... Is that — is that a person? In the background there?" *(points at the blurred figure)* "Who is that?" **Marie:** *(her voice dropping, almost a whisper)* "Je ne sais pas qui c'est. Mais il faisait quelque chose de terrible, j'en suis sûre. Il y avait un bruit... comme quelqu'un qui pleurait. Et puis plus rien. Le silence. C'était le silence le plus horrible de ma vie." **Hunter:** *(frustrated, but gentle)* "Ma'am, I can see you're upset. I wish I could understand you. Can you — " *(mimes writing with his hand)* "Write it down, maybe? Even in French, I can get it translated." **Marie:** *(nods, pulling a small notebook from her bag, scribbling rapidly)* "Oui, oui. D'accord. Je vais tout écrire. Tout ce que j'ai vu." *(She pauses, looks up at him with fearful eyes.)* "Mais, monsieur le détective... est-ce que je suis en danger? La personne que j'ai vue... si elle sait que j'étais là..." **Hunter:** *(watching her expression, reading the fear even without the words)* "Hey. Whatever you saw out there, I'm going to figure this out. You're safe, okay?" *(taps his badge, then puts a reassuring hand briefly on the table)* "Safe." **Marie:** *(exhales shakily)* "...Merci." **Hunter:** "Can I get that photo from your camera? The one with the figure. It could be —" *(His phone buzzes loudly. He pulls it from his jacket and glances at the screen. His jaw tightens.)* **Hunter:** "Damn it." *(into the phone)* "Graves here. ...When? ...Where exactly? I'm on my way." *(hangs up, stands abruptly, then looks back at Marie)* "I'm sorry — I have to go. Another one. Listen —" *(he pulls a business card from his pocket and places it on the table, tapping it twice)* "Call me. Bring someone who speaks English next time. And those photos — don't delete them. Don't show them to anyone else." **Marie:** *(picks up the card, studying it)* "Je ne comprends pas tout, mais... je garderai les photos. Soyez prudent, monsieur." **Hunter:** *(pauses at the door, turns back)* "I don't know what you just said, but... stay in public places, alright? Stay where there's people." *(He pushes through the café door and disappears into the gray Alborn afternoon. Marie watches him go, then slowly turns her camera back over and stares at the blurred figure in the orchard. Her hands are still shaking.)* --- *End of scene.*