Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8VQTKC8PJM0T6AWDEJNRGJ

# Scene: The Café on Main Street --- Hunter: "Afternoon, ma'am. Mind if I sit down? I'm Detective Hunter Shaw, Alborn PD." Marie: "...Pardon? Je— je ne comprends pas. Vous êtes... policier?" Hunter: "I... uh. Right. Okay. I'm a detective. *Detective*. I'm looking into what happened last night, down by the orchard on County Road 7. Were you there? The orchard? Apples?" Marie: *(clutching her camera tightly)* "L'homme... l'homme dans le verger? Mon Dieu, je l'ai vu. J'étais là pour prendre des photos du coucher de soleil et— il y avait quelqu'un. Il criait. Et puis... plus rien. Plus un bruit. C'était horrible." Hunter: "Ma'am, I— I'm sorry, I don't understand a word of that. Do you speak *any* English? English?" Marie: *(shaking her head, visibly trembling)* "Non... non, je suis désolée. Pas d'anglais. Je— regardez. Regardez ici." Hunter: "What are you— oh. You want to show me something? On your camera?" Marie: *(scrolling through photos with shaking hands)* "Là. Vous voyez? C'était hier soir. Il faisait presque nuit. Cette silhouette, là, entre les arbres. Et cette voiture— cette voiture noire. Elle n'était pas là avant. Et après, l'homme a disparu. Il a tout simplement... disparu." Hunter: "Hold on. Let me see that. That's... that's the Hadley orchard, alright. And that — is that a person? Between the trees there? And that vehicle... that's a black SUV. That's not in any of the reports." Marie: "Vous comprenez? La voiture! La voiture noire! Elle est partie très vite après. J'ai eu tellement peur que je me suis cachée derrière le muret. Je n'ai pas dormi de la nuit." Hunter: "You're pointing at the car. Yeah. Yeah, I see it. I wish to God I knew what you were saying. You seem pretty shaken up. Were you *there*? You — *(pointing at her, then at the photo)* — you... *there*?" Marie: *(nodding emphatically)* "Oui! Oui, j'étais là! Pour les photos! Le paysage! Et j'ai vu... j'ai vu quelque chose de terrible. Il faut que quelqu'un m'écoute!" Hunter: "Okay, okay. I think I'm getting the picture, even if I can't get the words. You were out there taking photographs, and you saw something. Something that scared you." Marie: *(her eyes welling up)* "Il y avait des cris. Des cris affreux. Et puis cette voiture qui est partie dans le noir. Je ne sais pas ce qui est arrivé à cet homme. Est-ce qu'il va bien? Est-ce qu'on l'a retrouvé?" Hunter: "Listen, I can see you're upset. I'm going to find someone who can translate— there's gotta be *somebody* in this town who took French in high school. Can I— can I take a photo of these with my phone? Your camera? *(miming taking a picture)* My phone... your photo... okay?" Marie: *(hesitantly offering the camera)* "Vous voulez... oui. Oui, prenez les photos. Tout ce qui peut aider. Je veux aider. J'ai tellement peur que quelqu'un soit en danger." Hunter: "Thank you. *Thank you*. These could be — hold on." *(Hunter's phone rings.)* Hunter: "Shaw here. ...What? When? ...Yeah, I'm downtown. I'll be there in five." Marie: "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" Hunter: *(standing abruptly, pocketing his phone)* "I've gotta go. Something's come up. But listen — *(holding up his card and placing it on the table)* — that's my number. *My number*. Call if you... well, I guess calling won't help much either. Just— stay in town, alright? *(pointing down at the ground)* Stay. Here. Alborn." Marie: *(taking the card, turning it over in her fingers)* "Alborn... oui. Je reste ici. Mais, monsieur — soyez prudent. Ce que j'ai vu hier soir... ce n'était pas normal. Quelque chose de très mauvais se passe dans cette ville." Hunter: *(pausing at the door, looking back at her troubled face)* "Yeah. I don't know what you just said... but somehow I think I agree with you." --- *Hunter pushes through the café door into the gray Minnesota afternoon. Behind him, Marie lifts her camera with unsteady hands and scrolls back to the photograph — the dark figure between the apple trees, the black SUV, and the empty space where a man had been standing only a moment before.*