Run: 2026-07-01-01KWE8WY8PQK24CPD3FMSYQJ6Y

The bell above the door of the Alborn Cafe jingled softly as the autumn wind pushed through the cracks in the old windowframes. Selvi sat near the window, scrolling through the photos on her camera's small screen—rows of amber-colored maples, a barn silhouetted against fog, the apple orchard she'd photographed just two days before. Her coffee had gone cold beside her, untouched for the last twenty minutes. She didn't notice Hunter approach until his shadow fell across the table. "Excuse me. Miss?" Hunter's voice was flat, businesslike, the voice of a man who had asked the same question forty times that week. He held up a small notepad, flipping it open with practiced ease. "I'm Detective Hunter, local PD. I understand you were out near the Kowalski orchard yesterday afternoon. Taking pictures?" Selvi looked up at him, startled. Her eyes were rimmed red, like she hadn't slept. "मैंने कुछ देखा था," she said, her voice trembling. "वहाँ... कुछ बहुत गलत था। मैं डर गयी थी।" Hunter blinked. His brow furrowed, and he leaned in slightly, as though proximity might help him understand. "I... didn't catch that." He said it slowly, like maybe if he spoke slower, her words would rearrange themselves into English. "Ma'am, do you speak English?" Selvi shook her head quickly, pointing at herself. "नहीं। हिंदी।" She gestured helplessly between them, her hands fluttering with frustration. Hunter exhaled through his nose, glancing around the cafe as if someone might materialize to translate. "Okay. Okay, hold on." He pulled out a chair across from her without asking and sat down, pulling out his phone. "Let's try this the slow way." He opened a translation app, typed a few words, and turned the screen toward her. Selvi read it, her lips moving slightly, and nodded, relief crossing her face for just a moment. She typed back. He read it. His eyebrows rose. "You saw someone near the tree line? At night?" he asked, tapping quickly on his phone to convert his words to Hindi text before turning it toward her again. Selvi read it and nodded fast, her hands trembling as she picked up her camera. She scrolled through the images, found one, and turned it to face him—a blurred figure at the edge of the frame, half-swallowed by shadow and fog. "यह... यह डरावना था," she whispered, tapping the screen. "मुझे नहीं पता कि यह कौन था।" Hunter squinted at the photo, then at the translated text scrolling on his phone: *"This was scary. I don't know who it was."* "Can I get a copy of this?" he asked, already reaching into his jacket for a small evidence bag, more out of habit than expectation that she'd understand. Selvi seemed to catch his meaning regardless, nodding and beginning to detach the memory card from her camera with careful fingers. Just then, Hunter's phone buzzed hard against the table, vibrating twice in quick succession. He glanced at the screen, jaw tightening. "Damn it." He stood so fast the chair scraped against the floor. "I have to go. Sheriff's found something out by the McAllister place." Selvi looked at him, confused, clutching the memory card. "रुको—" she started, half-rising from her seat. But Hunter was already moving toward the door, phone pressed to his ear, tossing a distracted "Thank you, ma'am—I'll be in touch" over his shoulder as the bell jingled once more and the cold air rushed in behind him. Selvi sat back down slowly, the memory card still in her hand, and looked out the window at the empty street where he'd disappeared. --- **Voice Sheet:** Selvi: "मैंने कुछ देखा था। वहाँ... कुछ बहुत गलत था। मैं डर गयी थी।" Hunter: "I... didn't catch that. Ma'am, do you speak English?" Selvi: "नहीं। हिंदी।" Hunter: "Okay. Okay, hold on. Let's try this the slow way." Hunter: "You saw someone near the tree line? At night?" Selvi: "यह... यह डरावना था। मुझे नहीं पता कि यह कौन था।" Hunter: "Can I get a copy of this?" Hunter: "Damn it. I have to go. Sheriff's found something out by the McAllister place." Selvi: "रुको—" Hunter: "Thank you, ma'am—I'll be in touch."