Run: 2026-02-16-01KHM61B0N3ZSE01HNA4YXJRKD

**Voice Sheet: The Cafe Conversation** **Setting:** A small, rustic cafe in Alborn, MN. The smell of fresh coffee and baked goods fills the air. Marie sits alone at a corner table, a half-empty cup of espresso before her. She is intently reviewing photos on her digital camera, her expression a mix of artistic focus and deep unease. **Characters:** - **Marie:** 30, French, speaks only French. Voice is melodic but currently strained with worry. - **Hunter:** 35, detective, speaks only English. Voice is direct, gravelly, and calm. **(Scene begins with the soft click of Marie advancing through photos. Hunter enters the cafe, his eyes scanning the room before landing on Marie. He approaches her table.)** **Hunter:** "Excuse me. Mind if I have a word?" **(Marie looks up, startled. She offers a small, polite smile but her eyes remain guarded.)** **Marie:** "Bonjour. Je... je ne parle pas anglais. Désolée." **Hunter:** (Frowning slightly, but pressing on) "I'm Detective Hunter. I'm looking into some... missing persons. I understand you were down by the old mill creek yesterday afternoon. Taking pictures." **(He gestures to her camera. Marie's eyes widen. She understands the gesture, if not the words. She clutches her camera a little tighter.)** **Marie:** "Le moulin? Oui... hier. Les photos... elles sont... étranges." **(She shakes her head, struggling to find the words, then turns the camera screen toward him. It shows one of her landscape shots: the beautiful, sun-dappled creek. She advances to the next photo. It's the same scene, but in the shadows of the far bank, there is a blurred, dark, vaguely human-shaped smudge.)** **Marie:** (Voice dropping to a whisper) "Regardez. Là. Je n'ai vu personne quand j'ai pris la photo. Mais... il est là. Sur chaque photo après midi. Comme une ombre. Ce n'est pas normal." **(Hunter studies the photo, his detective's mind analyzing the anomaly. He looks from the disturbing image to Marie's troubled face.)** **Hunter:** "I don't understand the words, ma'am, but I see the picture. Did you see anyone? Hear anything unusual?" **Marie:** (Misinterpreting his intense look as doubt) "Je ne l'ai pas inventé! C'est dans la photo! Une présence. Quelque chose de mauvais. Je le sens." *(I didn't make it up! It's in the picture! A presence. Something bad. I can feel it.)* **(She pulls the camera back, scrolling frantically to show him another similar photo with the same blurry anomaly. Her hands are trembling.)** **Hunter:** (Holding up a placating hand) "Okay, okay. Easy. I believe you saw something. Or... caught something. Can I get a copy of those? For the investigation?" **(Just then, Hunter's cell phone vibrates loudly on his hip. He holds up a finger to Marie—*one moment*—and answers.)** **Hunter:** "Hunter." (A pause as he listens, his expression hardening.) "Where? ... I'm on my way. Secure the perimeter. Don't let anyone near it." **(He ends the call and looks back at Marie, his demeanor all business again.)** **Hunter:** "I have to go. Stay available. And... be careful." **(He turns and strides out of the cafe without a backward glance, leaving Marie alone at the table. She stares after him, then looks down at the ominous image on her camera screen, her sense of dread settling deeper.)** **Marie:** (To herself, softly) "Qu'est-ce qui se passe dans cette ville?" *(What is happening in this town?)*