Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ0ABBPKGGZV6HT9BWFQ77Y4

**Voice Sheet — "Café Encounter"** --- **Hunter:** "Excuse me, ma'am. Detective Hunter Reed, Alborn County Sheriff's Office." *(flips open his badge briefly)* "Mind if I sit down? I'm asking around about the disappearance of a man named Gerald Forsythe. Seen him around here recently?" --- **Maria:** *(eyes wide, clutching her camera tightly to her chest)* "¿Desaparición? Dios mío… Yo— yo vi algo. Anoche, cerca del río. Había un hombre… corría. Alguien lo seguía en la oscuridad. No pude dormir… no pude dormir después de eso." *(voice trembling)* --- **Hunter:** *(blinks slowly)* "Ma'am, I'm sorry — I didn't catch any of that. Do you speak English? Just a little?" --- **Maria:** *(shaking her head rapidly, pointing at herself)* "No, no inglés. Español. Solo español." *(gestures vaguely outward, then back to her camera, flipping through photos desperately)* "Mira — mira. Fotografías. Anoche. El río." --- **Hunter:** *(squinting at the camera screen, seeing a blurry dark image of a riverside at night)* "I… okay. Photos. You took photos last night? By the river?" --- **Maria:** *(nodding vigorously, pointing at him, then at herself, then making a running motion with her fingers)* "Sí, sí. Hombre. Corriendo. Y… y otra persona. Grande. Con— con algo en la mano." *(mimes something heavy being carried)* "No sé qué era. Estaba muy oscuro." --- **Hunter:** *(leaning forward, frustrated but patient)* "You saw two people by the river last night. One was running. Did you see their faces? Do you know who they were?" --- **Maria:** *(frustration building, pressing her palms against her temples)* "No entiendo… No entiendo lo que dices." *(pulls out her phone, fumbles with it, and opens Google Translate, typing rapidly)* *(holds the phone up to Hunter)* --- **Google Translate voice (Spanish):** *"I saw a man running. Someone was chasing him. I was afraid. I took photos but they are dark."* --- **Hunter:** *(reading the phone screen, jaw tightening)* "Okay. Okay, I understand. You witnessed something. That's important, ma'am. Very important." *(pulls out a notepad)* "Can you describe the person who was chasing the man? Tall? Short? Were they wearing anything distinctive?" --- **Maria:** *(reads his words on the phone screen he tilts toward her, then types a response)* --- **Google Translate voice (Spanish):** *"Very tall. Dark coat. Walked slow. Like he was not in a hurry. That was the scary part."* --- **Hunter:** *(writing quickly, muttering)* "Walked slow… that's cold-blooded." *(looks up)* "And the man who was running — did you recognize him? Could it have been Gerald Forsythe?" --- **Maria:** *(reads the screen, pauses, then types)* --- **Google Translate voice (Spanish):** *"I don't know this name. But… yes. It could be him. Light hair. Tall. He looked… he looked terrified."* --- **Hunter:** *(phone buzzes — he glances at it, expression hardening)* "Damn it." *(stands up abruptly)* "Ma'am, I need you to stay right here. Don't leave Alborn. I'm going to need those photos, and I may need to bring someone who can translate properly. Can you do that? Stay here?" --- **Maria:** *(reads his hurried typing on the phone screen, sees the urgency in his face, and nods slowly, wrapping her arms around her camera)* "Me quedo. No me voy." --- **Hunter:** *(already walking away, phone to his ear)* "Yeah, Chief — I've got a witness. She saw the riverside last night. I need a Spanish interpreter down at Rosie's Café on Main in twenty minutes." *(pushes through the café door)* --- **Maria:** *(sitting alone, staring at her camera screen — the blurry dark figures by the river — whispering to herself)* "¿Qué he visto…?" ---