Run: 2026-02-19-01KHVPD37DV5X30QD172TCXTDH

**Hunter:** [Steps up to the café table, flashing his badge with crisp, military precision] "Excuse me, ma'am. Detective Hunter, Alborn Police. I’m asking folks around the apple festival about the recent disappearances. Mind if I ask you a few questions about last night?" **Marie:** [Gasps, tearing her eyes away from her camera screen. Her face is pale and her hands shake] "La police ? Oh, mon Dieu... Je, je ne parle pas anglais. S'il vous plaît, aidez-moi. C'est terrible ce que j'ai vu." **Hunter:** [Frowns, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration] "French? Look, miss, I don't speak a lick of French. Not even 'bonjour'. I just need to know if you saw anyone wandering near the orchards. Missing persons. Do you understand?" **Marie:** [Shakes her head frantically, eyes wide with panic] "Je ne comprends pas ! Je suis juste l'étudiante étrangère... mais regardez !" [She shoves her heavy DSLR camera toward his chest] "Je prenais des photos de paysage au festival de la pomme. Regardez cette photo. Sur l'écran !" **Hunter:** [Sighs, taking the camera gingerly] "Alright, okay... easy. Let me look. Just looks like a picture of the apple trees to me. Nice landscape, I guess. Nothing out of the ordinary at first glance." **Marie:** [Leans in, pointing a trembling finger at the corner of the tiny screen] "Non, pas les arbres ! Ici ! Regardez l'ombre, près du grand chapiteau. Un homme marchait, et soudain... c'est comme s'il avait été effacé. Emporté dans le noir !" **Hunter:** [Squints at the screen, his expression hardening into intense focus] "Wait... what the hell is that shadow doing? That's not a tree branch. Looks like a scuffle. Is that the guy who vanished? Did you actually see this happen?" **Marie:** "Oui ! Il a disparu ! J'ai eu si peur... Je suis restée cachée derrière mon appareil. Je n'osais plus respirer." **Hunter:** [Catching the cognate] "Disparu... Disappear. Right. Okay, you're a witness. This is hard evidence. I need to get you down to the precinct. I'll find someone in this three-thousand-person town who passed high school French." **Marie:** "Qu'est-ce que vous dites ? La prison ? Je n'ai rien fait ! S'il vous plaît, je ne sais pas quoi faire." [Hunter's cell phone suddenly blares from his coat pocket. He grimaces and answers it.] **Hunter:** "Hunter. Make it quick. ... Are you kidding me? Another disappearance? Right in the middle of town square?" [His posture goes entirely rigid, falling right back into his old Marine bearing] "Lock down the cider tents. Nobody leaves the festival grounds. I'm five minutes out." [He hangs up, looking torn as he looks between his phone and the terrified French woman.] **Hunter:** [Points two fingers firmly at the café table, speaking in a slow, commanding tone] "I have to leave. I need you to stay. Right here. Do not move. Understand?" [He points to her, then jabs his finger toward her chair] "Stay." **Marie:** [Clutching her camera tightly to her chest, her voice cracking as she stands up] "Non, attendez ! Où allez-vous ? Ne me laissez pas toute seule, et si cette chose revient ?" **Hunter:** [Already backing away toward his cruiser, holding up a flat palm to order her to stop] "I will send a squad car for you. Lock the camera away. Stay put!"