Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8VEDV1VJS9J299P31CVRS7

# Scene: The Café on Main Street --- **Hunter:** "Excuse me, miss? I'm Detective Hunter Brandt with the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office. Mind if I sit down?" **Isabella:** *glances up from her camera, startled* "Mi scusi... non capisco. Parla italiano?" **Hunter:** "I'm sorry — what was that? English?" **Isabella:** *shakes her head slowly* "No... no inglese. Italiano. Solo italiano." **Hunter:** *sits down across from her, pulls out his badge and points to it* "Detective. Police. I'm looking into some things happening around town. You were at the apple festival grounds yesterday evening, is that right?" *mimes taking a photo, then points at her camera* **Isabella:** *eyes widening, clutching the camera against her chest* "Il festival... sì, ero lì. Ho visto qualcosa — qualcosa di terribile." *her voice drops, trembling* "C'era un uomo... trascinava qualcuno nel buio, dietro il fienile. Ho sentito gridare, e poi... silenzio. Silenzio assoluto." **Hunter:** *leans forward, studying her expression* "Okay, I can see you're upset. Something happened out there, didn't it? Can you... show me? On your camera, maybe?" *taps the camera gently and mimes scrolling through photos* **Isabella:** *hesitates, then turns on the camera with shaking hands, scrolling through images* "Guardate... qui. Stavo fotografando il tramonto sul campo di meli quando ho visto quest'ombra. Ho scattato una foto, ma avevo paura. Tanta paura." *shows him the screen — a blurred, dark figure near the old barn at the edge of the fairgrounds* **Hunter:** *squints at the photo* "Well, I'll be... That's the old Hendrickson barn. Who is that? Can you zoom in?" *pinches his fingers together, gesturing* **Isabella:** *zooms in, the image grainy but showing the silhouette of a large figure carrying something over their shoulder* "Non so chi sia. Ma quello che portava... sembrava una persona. Lo giuro su Dio, sembrava una persona." **Hunter:** "That shape on his shoulder... Lord. That could be — " *pulls out a small notebook, scribbles something, then looks back at her* "When? What time?" *taps his watch* **Isabella:** *looks at the watch, understanding the gesture* "Le... le nove? Nove..." *holds up nine fingers* **Hunter:** "Nine o'clock. Okay, nine o'clock." *writes it down* "And you didn't see a face? The man's face?" *circles his own face with a finger* **Isabella:** *shakes her head vigorously* "No, no. Era troppo buio. Ma era grande — molto grande. Alto." *raises her hand high above the table* "E si muoveva come se conoscesse bene il posto. Non aveva fretta. Questo mi ha spaventata più di tutto... non aveva nessuna fretta." **Hunter:** *nods slowly* "Big guy. Tall. Seemed real comfortable out there." *studies her face* "I wish I could understand everything you're telling me. I can see it shook you up pretty bad." **Isabella:** *eyes glistening* "Dopo quella sera non riesco a dormire. Ogni volta che chiudo gli occhi, vedo quell'ombra. Ho pensato di andare alla polizia, ma non parlo la vostra lingua e avevo paura che nessuno mi avrebbe capita. Nessuno mi ascolta mai qui." **Hunter:** *places a steady hand flat on the table, a calming gesture* "Hey. It's alright. You're safe. I'm going to figure this out." *points at the camera, then at himself questioningly* "Can I take this? Borrow?" **Isabella:** *pulls the camera back protectively* "No — è la mia macchina fotografica. Ne ho bisogno." *pauses, then holds up a finger — an idea* "Ma posso... aspettate." *pulls a small SD card from her bag and begins copying the photo to it* "Ecco. Potete avere questa copia." **Hunter:** *takes the SD card carefully* "Smart. Thank you. Grazie — wait, is that even right? Grah-zee?" **Isabella:** *a tiny, fragile smile breaks through* "Sì... grazie. È corretto." **Hunter:** *smiles back* "Well, look at that. First Italian word I ever — " *His phone buzzes loudly. He glances at the screen, and his expression hardens.* **Hunter:** "Brandt here." *listens for a long moment, jaw tightening* "Where? ...How long ago? No, don't touch anything. I'm on my way." *hangs up and stands abruptly* **Isabella:** *alarmed by his sudden change* "Che succede? È successo qualcosa?" **Hunter:** *grabs his jacket from the chair, pauses, and looks at her with genuine concern* "I have to go. Something's come up." *places a business card on the table and taps it* "My number. Call. Anytime." *mimes a phone at his ear* **Isabella:** *picks up the card, nodding* "State attento, detective." **Hunter:** *hesitates at the door, turns back* "I don't know what you just said, but... I'll be back. Stay safe." *taps the doorframe once and disappears into the gray Alborn afternoon* **Isabella:** *watches him go, then looks down at the camera again — at the dark figure in the photograph — and whispers to herself* "Chi sei...? E cosa hai fatto?" --- *She turns off the camera, wraps both hands around her coffee, and stares out the window at the quiet, deceptive little town.*