Run: 2026-03-03-01KJTYV7CNT79JNNGBXQRK37F1

### Scene Context: Alborn Corner Cafe, mid-morning. Marie sits alone at a scuffed Formica table, her vintage landscape camera propped before her, zoomed in on a blurry night photo of a shadowy figure she captured near the town’s apple orchard the night of the latest disappearance. She’s been muttering quiet, panicked French to herself when Detective Hunter approaches. **Marie:** (voice trembling, rapid, laced with terror) *"Mon dieu, je ne peux pas arrêter de le voir. Il a emporté Clara, j’ai suivi jusqu’à la verger mais j’avais trop peur de m’approcher. Pourquoi n’ai-je rien dit plus tôt?"* (English translation: "Oh god, I can’t stop seeing him. He took Clara, I followed them to the orchard but I was too scared to get close. Why didn’t I say something sooner?") **Hunter:** (gruff, direct, clipboard tucked under one arm, police badge glinting on his duty belt) "Excuse me. I’m Detective Hunter with the Alborn Police Department. I’m investigating the town’s missing persons cases. Did you see anything unusual near the west apple orchard late Tuesday night?" **Marie:** (jumps so hard she knocks over her half-full coffee mug, fumbles to catch her camera before it spills) *"Arrêtez! Ne me demandez pas ça, je ne veux pas être la prochaine! J’ai pris une photo, mais elle est trop floue, je ne sais pas si ça aidera!"* (English translation: "Stop! Don’t ask me that, I don’t want to be next! I took a photo but it’s too blurry, I don’t know if it will help!") **Hunter:** (brow furrowed, pen hovering over his notebook, completely bewildered) "Wait, hold on. I don’t understand a single word you’re saying. Do you speak English? Or can you point me to someone who can translate?" **Marie:** (blinks rapidly, realizing he doesn’t comprehend her French, grabs her smartphone, fumbles to open Google Translate before speaking again) *"Je… je ne parle pas anglais. Je suis une étudiante en échange. Voici ce que j’ai vu."* (She holds up her camera, tapping the blurry poncho-clad figure on the screen, then types a quick message on her translator app and holds the screen aloft: "I saw a man in a black poncho take a woman. I took this photo.") **Hunter:** (stares at the phone screen, then the photo, scratches the back of his neck, pulls out his own phone to pull up a French-to-English translator) "Okay, let’s slow down. You saw a man near the orchard? Can you tell me where he went after that?" (He holds up his phone, displaying the translated text: "You saw someone near the orchard. Where did they go?") [Several minutes pass as they communicate via smartphone translation apps: Marie types her panicked, detailed account of spotting the figure, and Hunter asks follow-up questions, scribbling quick notes when he can parse the exchange.] **Hunter:** (suddenly freezes, his department-issued phone ringing loudly from his duty belt) "Hunter here. What’s the location? … Got it, I’m en route now. … Secure the area until backup arrives." (He hangs up, turns back to Marie, and holds up his translated phone screen: "I have to leave immediately. We found a matching vehicle near the orchard. Thank you for your help—we’ll follow up with you first thing tomorrow. Stay in town.") **Marie:** (nods tightly, clutching her camera to her chest, voice softening) *"Je ferai ça. Merci."* (English translation: "I will. Thank you.") **Hunter:** (grabs his clipboard and hurries toward the cafe door, glancing over his shoulder briefly) "Stay safe, miss." (He steps outside and hops into his unmarked police SUV, peeling out of the parking lot moments later.)