Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ052DKQZMGD4C74HRQFHRPF

# Voice Sheet — *"The Apple Festival Disappearance"* --- **Hunter** approaches the cafe counter where **Melanie** sits alone at a corner table, her camera resting in her lap. She turns the dial absently, reviewing photos on the small display screen. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and she jumps slightly when Hunter pulls out the chair across from her. --- **Hunter:** "Mind if I sit? I'm Detective Hunter Caldwell, Alborn PD. You're Melanie, right? The study abroad student staying at the Brookfield Inn?" *Melanie looks up, startled. She clutches her camera tighter.* **Melanie:** *(hesitant, softly)* "...Ja. Ja, ich bin es." **Hunter:** "...Right. Okay. Listen, I'm going to be straightforward. Were you at the apple orchard Saturday night? Around eleven?" *Melanie's face pales. She sets her camera down carefully on the table.* **Melanie:** *(voice trembling)* "Ich… ich war dort. Ich habe — ich habe etwas gesehen. Es war schrecklich." **Hunter:** *(slow nod, noting her distress)* "I can see you're upset. I'm sorry — I don't suppose you speak any English? Even a little?" *Melanie shakes her head helplessly. She holds up her hands.* **Melanie:** *(frustrated, quiet)* "Nein… nein Englisch. Entschuldigung. Entschuldigung." **Hunter:** *(sighing, leaning back)* "Okay. Okay, no problem. We'll figure this out." *He glances around the cafe, then spots a napkin and a pen on the table. He slides them over.* **Hunter:** "Here — can you write? Maybe draw what you saw?" *Melanie hesitates, then picks up the pen. She begins sketching quickly — two stick figures, one being pulled toward a dark shape. A van. Hunter leans in, studying the drawing.* **Hunter:** "That's a vehicle. A van?" *Melanie nods firmly.* **Melanie:** *(pointing at the dark shape, whispering)* "Das hier… diese Gestalt. Sie war so groß. So groß und dunkel." *She shudders and wraps her arms around herself.* **Hunter:** "Someone — or something — was there." *Melanie nods again. She writes a clumsy word beneath the van: "VAN." Then she writes a time beside it: "23:00."* **Hunter:** "Eleven PM. That lines up with what we found — tire tracks near the orchard gate." *(He studies her face.)* "You saw someone being taken?" *Melanie's eyes fill with tears. She grips the edge of the table.* **Melanie:** *(barely audible)* "Sie hat geschrien. Die Frau hat geschrien… und ich konnte nichts tun. Ich konnte nur — zusehen." *She mimes lifting her camera to her face.* **Hunter:** *(gently)* "You took a photo." *Melanie nods. She lifts her camera and turns the display toward Hunter. The screen shows a blurry, dark image — a figure near a van, a second figure pulled toward it. It's indistinct, but unmistakably sinister.* **Hunter:** *(jaw tightening)* "May I borrow this? My tech people can enhance it." *Melanie hesitates, her fingers on the camera strap. Then she unclips it carefully and pushes it across the table.* **Melanie:** *(softly, in German)* "Bitte… find sie. Bitte." **Hunter:** *(taking the camera gently)* "I'll do everything I can. I promise." *He starts to rise — then his phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and his expression darkens.* **Hunter:** *(into phone)* "Caldwell. — What? When? — I'm on my way." *He hangs up and turns back to Melanie.* **Hunter:** "I have to go. Another missing person — just reported. I need you to stay here, okay? I'll come back for you later. Don't talk to anyone else until I do." *He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a business card, and places it on the table beside her.* **Hunter:** "If anyone asks — any stranger — you tell them you're waiting for me. Got it?" *Melanie stares at the card, then at him. She doesn't fully understand the words, but she reads the urgency in his voice.* **Melanie:** *(nodding slowly)* "Ich warte. Ich warte hier." **Hunter:** *(pausing at her words, sensing the meaning from her tone)* "...Good. I'll be back." *He strides out. The bell above the cafe door jingles. Melanie sits alone again, pulling the business card close to her chest. She stares at the door, then down at her empty hands where her camera used to be.* **Melanie:** *(whispering to herself)* "Hoffentlich rechtzeitig." *She looks out the window at the quiet street of Alborn — the hand-painted signs for next month's Apple Festival fluttering in the breeze — and waits.* --- **[END SCENE]**