Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8W6AZ72CGA92VSC7HYKT9R

# Scene: The Iron Kettle Café, Alborn, MN — Late Morning *Maria sits alone at a corner table near the window, scrolling through photos on her camera's display screen. A half-finished café con leche grows cold beside her. Outside, Main Street is quieter than usual — unnervingly so for a town days away from its beloved apple festival. Hunter pushes through the front door, the little brass bell overhead announcing his arrival. He spots Maria — the only person in the café besides old Walt behind the counter — and walks over, pulling a small notepad from his jacket pocket.* --- Hunter: "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm Detective Hunter Raines with the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office. Mind if I sit down?" Maria: *(glancing up from her camera, startled)* "Oh... lo siento, no... no entiendo. ¿Habla español?" Hunter: *(pausing mid-sit, brow furrowing)* "I'm sorry — Spanish? I don't... No, I don't speak any Spanish. Do you speak English? *English?*" Maria: *(shaking her head slowly, offering an apologetic half-smile)* "No, no hablo inglés. Lo siento mucho." Hunter: *(sighing, settling into the chair across from her anyway, holding up his badge and pointing to it)* "Okay. Well. I'm a detective. *Detective.* I'm looking into some things happening around town. Were you here last night? *Last night?*" Maria: *(studying his badge, her expression shifting — something uneasy flickering behind her eyes. She clutches the camera a little tighter to her chest)* "¿Anoche? Sí... sí, estuve aquí anoche. Vi algo... algo que no debería haber visto." Hunter: *(leaning forward, reading her body language)* "You saw something. I can tell you saw something. What was it? Can you — can you show me?" Maria: *(her voice dropping, hands trembling slightly as she turns the camera around and begins scrolling through images, pointing at the screen)* "Mire, mire esto. Estaba tomando fotos del lago, de la niebla sobre el agua... y entonces vi a alguien. Una persona arrastrando algo hacia el bosque. Algo grande. Tenía mucho miedo. No sé qué era, pero..." Hunter: *(squinting at the camera's small screen, seeing hazy, dark images — fog over water, tree lines, and one blurred shape that could be a figure near the woods)* "That's... is that the lake? The tree line off County Road 7? And that — is that a *person?*" Maria: *(nodding vigorously, her eyes wide)* "¡Sí, sí! ¡Una persona! Estaba oscuro, no pude ver bien, pero había alguien allí. Desapareció entre los árboles. Escuché un ruido horrible, como... como un grito. Dios mío, no he podido dormir." Hunter: *(running a hand over his jaw, frustrated by the wall between them)* "I wish to God I knew what you were saying. You're shaken up. I can see that. This picture — I need this picture. Can I... *this?*" *(He mimes taking the camera, then mimes writing something down — pointing at the photo and then at his notepad.)* Maria: *(pulling the camera back protectively, then hesitating)* "No... mi cámara no. Pero... espere." *(She holds up a finger — 'wait' — and fiddles with the camera's menu, finding a way to show him the image again, zooming in.)* "Aquí. ¿Lo ve? La figura. Llevaba algo rojo. Una chaqueta, creo. Y esto..." *(She points to a second shape near the figure's feet.)* "...esto es lo que me asusta." Hunter: *(staring at the zoomed image — a dark shape on the ground near the figure, impossible to identify in the low light)* "What the hell is that? Ma'am, I need to get these photos to my — " *(His phone buzzes sharply in his pocket. He holds up a finger to Maria and answers.)* Hunter: "Raines... Yeah. *Yeah.* Where? ...You're kidding me. Another one? I'm on my way. Ten minutes." *(He hangs up, jaw tight, and turns back to Maria. He pulls a business card from his jacket and slides it across the table, tapping it twice with his finger.)* Hunter: "Look, I have to go. But I need to talk to you again. *Need to.* I'll find someone who speaks Spanish, and we're going to sit down, and you're going to tell me everything. Okay? *Everything.*" *(He points to the card, then to her, then back to himself.)* "Call me. *Please.*" Maria: *(taking the card, turning it over in her fingers, her voice barely above a whisper)* "Tenga cuidado. Lo que sea que está pasando en este pueblo... no es normal. Puedo sentirlo. Hay algo muy malo aquí." Hunter: *(standing, holding her gaze for a moment even though he can't understand the words — something in her tone making the hair on the back of his neck stand up)* "Yeah... I'm getting that feeling too." *(He nods once, turns, and pushes back out through the door. The brass bell rings behind him. Maria looks down at the business card, then back at her camera screen — at the dark, blurred shape in the trees — and whispers to herself.)* Maria: "Ten mucho cuidado, detective." --- *End of Scene*