Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ0AX26WED30A37DX9W373M2

# Voice Sheet: The Café Encounter --- **Hunter:** "Excuse me—mind if I sit down? Detective Hunter Briggs, Alborn PD. I'm talking to folks around town about the Whitfield disappearance." **Marie:** *(looking up, startled)* "Je… je ne comprends pas. Parlez-vous français?" **Hunter:** *(pulling out a chair, sitting across from her)* "Look, I'll keep it simple. Were you at the apple orchard on Saturday? Anyone act… unusual?" **Marie:** *(gripping her camera tighter, her voice trembling)* "Monsieur, je ne parle pas anglais. Je suis désolée. Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui… qui peut m'aider?" **Hunter:** *(pausing, studying her face)* "You were there, weren't you? Your camera—you're the photographer. The one who was shooting the festival grounds." **Marie:** *(swallowing hard, flipping through her camera's photos and turning the screen toward him, pointing at a shadowy figure in the background)* "Regardez. C'est… c'est ce que j'ai vu. Quelqu'un… quelque chose ne va pas." **Hunter:** *(leaning in, squinting at the screen)* "I can see a photo, but I don't know what you're trying to tell me. Can you write it down? English, even just—" **Marie:** *(shaking her head, writing frantically on a napkin, sliding it across the table: "HOMME DANS L'OMBRE. SOMBRE. EFFRAYANT.")* **Hunter:** *(reading the napkin, furrowing his brow)* "'Homme'… man? 'Sombre'…? This isn't helping." **Marie:** *(frustrated, pressing her hands to her temples)* "Je sais que quelque chose de terrible s'est passé ce jour-là. J'ai vu cet homme suivre quelqu'un derrière les arbres. Je le sais. Mais je ne peux pas… je ne peux pas vous le dire correctement!" **Hunter:** *(leaning back, exhaling slowly)* "Okay. Okay. You saw something. Someone. At the orchard." *(pointing at the photo)* "This figure—you saw them follow a person?" **Marie:** *(nodding vigorously, eyes wide)* "Oui! Oui, exactement! Vous comprenez!" **Hunter:** *(pulling out a notepad, sketching)* "Can you… draw where they went? A map? Anything?" **Marie:** *(taking the notepad, quickly sketching the orchard layout, marking an "X" behind the tree line, drawing an arrow deeper into the woods)* **Hunter:** *(looking at the sketch)* "Behind the orchard. Into the tree line. That's where they went." *(looking up at her)* "This is good. This is really good. Do you know who the person being followed was?" **Marie:** *(frowning, writing on the notepad again: "UNE FEMME. BLONDE. VESTE ROUGE.")* **Hunter:** *(reading)* "A woman. Blonde. Red jacket." *(eyes widening)* "That's… that matches Linda Whitfield's description exactly." **Marie:** *(grabbing his arm, her voice low and urgent)* "Il faut que vous trouviez cette femme. Cet homme—il est dangereux. J'en suis sûre." **Hunter:** *(his phone buzzing on the table)* "Hold on—" *(answering)* "Briggs." *(a long pause, his jaw tightening)* "How long ago? ...No, don't let anyone touch anything. I'm on my way." *(He hangs up, pushing back from the table abruptly.)* **Hunter:** "I have to go. But this—" *(holding up the napkin and sketch)* "—this might be the biggest lead we've had." *(pulling a card from his jacket and placing it on the table)* "Come to the station tomorrow. We'll find you a translator. And stay somewhere safe tonight—don't go back to the orchard." **Marie:** *(nodding slowly, clutching her camera to her chest)* "Je serai prudente. Bonne chance, Monsieur." **Hunter:** *(pausing at the door, looking back)* "I don't know what you said. But… thanks." *(he pushes through the door and is gone)* **Marie:** *(alone again, staring at the empty chair, whispering to herself)* "Trouvez-la. S'il vous plaît… trouvez-la." ---