Run: 2026-06-01-01KT1HHT7CGFZR43SF5AT8ZVVH

# Voice Sheet: "The Photograph" — Café Scene, Alborn, MN **Setting:** A quiet café on Main Street. Afternoon light filters through dusty windows. Maria sits at a corner table, hunched over her camera, scrolling through photos with a troubled expression. The bell above the door jingles as Hunter enters, coffee in one hand, badge clipped to his belt. He spots her — the only other customer besides the elderly couple by the register — and makes his way over. --- **HUNTER:** Ma'am? Sorry to bother you. I'm Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. You got a minute? **MARIA:** *(looks up, startled, brow furrowed)* ¿Eh? Perdón... no entiendo. **HUNTER:** *(flashes his badge, then realizes that's pointless)* Right. You're not from around here, are you. I saw you looking at that camera and figured you might be a tourist. You here for the apple festival? **MARIA:** *(recognition flickers across her face; she nods slowly, then shakes her head)* Festival... sí. Yo estuve allí. *(Festival... yes. I was there.)* **HUNTER:** You were there? That's actually helpful. Look, something happened that night. A woman — Linda Patterson, lived over on Elm — she went missing. Folks saw her near the lake around sundown, and then... nothing. You see anything? Anybody acting strange? Take any photos of the crowd? **MARIA:** *(her hands begin to tremble on the camera)* La mujer... sí. Yo la vi. Estaba junto al lago, mirando el agua. *(The woman... yes. I saw her. She was by the lake, looking at the water.)* **HUNTER:** The lake. Okay. What time was this? What'd she look like? Blonde, brown hair, about five-six, green jacket? **MARIA:** *(shaking her head, voice rising in pitch)* No, no, no sé. Estaba... era raro. La fotografié, ¿vale? Y cuando volteé a ver, ya no estaba. Pero detective... *(No, no, I don't know. She was... it was strange. I photographed her, okay? And when I looked back, she was gone. But detective...)* **HUNTER:** But what? **MARIA:** *(turns the camera toward him, urgent, pointing at the screen)* Mira. Por favor, mira. *(Look. Please, look.)* **HUNTER:** *(leans in, squinting at the display)* I see the lake. I see some trees. There's a... is that a person in the background? Look, I don't know what I'm looking at here. I really need you to find someone who speaks English, or get yourself a translator app, because right now this is— **MARIA:** *(pulling the camera back, frustrated, almost tearful)* ¡No era una persona! *(It wasn't a person!)* Después de esa foto, no había nadie. Pero en la siguiente, justo antes de que ella se fuera... *(After that photo, there was no one. But in the next one, right before she left...)* **HUNTER:** Would you slow down? I can't — I don't speak— *(His phone buzzes sharply. He glances at the screen, jaw tightening.)* **HUNTER:** I have to take this. Look — *(slides a business card across the table)* — don't leave town, okay? Get someone to call me. Anyone. Your hotel, the library, I don't care. You clearly saw *something*, and I need to know what it was. **MARIA:** *(takes the card with both hands, voice dropping to a whisper)* Sí. Lo prometo. Pero detective... tenga cuidado. *(Yes. I promise. But detective... be careful.)* **HUNTER:** *(already turning away, phone pressed to his ear)* Yeah, this is Hunter. What do you got? **MARIA:** *(softly, to herself, as he pushes through the door)* No era una sombra. Era algo más. Y creo... creo que se fue con ella. *(It wasn't a shadow. It was something else. And I think... I think it left with her.)* --- *The café door swings shut. The elderly couple by the register stare. Maria stares down at the photo on her camera — the lake, the trees, and the shape in the corner that doesn't quite look like a person — and slowly closes her eyes.*