Run: 2026-07-25-01KYCY68E3T16MN8RZVZ7W4FYZ

The crisp autumn air of Alborn, Minnesota, smelled faintly of cinnamon and woodsmoke—a reminder that the town's famous annual apple festival was just around the corner. But for Detective Hunter, the festive atmosphere felt entirely out of place. Three people had vanished from the sleepy Midwest town in the last month, leaving behind nothing but unanswered questions. His sharp, no-nonsense eyes scanned the patio of the local café. They landed on a young woman sitting alone at a corner table. She was clutching a professional DSLR camera like a lifeline, her knuckles white. Marie. Hunter had seen her around campus taking landscape shots. More importantly, she had been near the edge of town on the night the baker disappeared. Hunter walked over, his heavy boots crunching on the gravel, and pulled out the chair opposite her without asking. Marie looked up, startled, framing him instantly in her anxious, wide-eyed gaze. Marie: "Oh! Non, non... Je ne sais pas comment cela a pu arriver. C'était si soudain !" Hunter: "Slow down, Miss. I just need to ask you a few questions about what you saw by the orchard last Tuesday." Marie: "Je ne comprends pas... Qu'est-ce que vous me voulez ? J'ai pris des photos, c'est tout ! C'était horrible !" Hunter: "English, please. Look, I’m Detective Hunter. I'm investigating the disappearances. Did you see someone out there with the baker before he vanished?" Marie: "Il y avait quelqu'un dans les ombres. Grand, sombre... J'ai essayé de l'appeler, mais il était trop tard. Je tremble encore rien qu'y penser." Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, squinting as if French words were physically painful to decipher. "Yeah, I'm gonna need you to use actual human words, because I don't speak a lick of whatever that is." Marie: "Je ne parle pas anglais ! Je suis française, je viens d'arriver pour le programme d'échange. Mais vous devez me croire, quelqu'un rôde par ici !" Hunter pointed a finger firmly toward the camera in her lap, trying to bridge the language gap through sheer willpower. "Camera. Pictures. Show me the pictures." Marie: "Les photos ? Oh, vous voulez voir les photos... Attendez." She nervously scrolled through the digital screen of her camera, turning it around so he could see. "Regardez, ici. Dans le fond des bois. C'était juste avant qu'il ne disparaisse." Hunter leaned in, studying the blurred background of a scenic landscape shot where a dark, indistinct silhouette stood beneath the apple trees. "Well. That’s something, at least." Before Hunter could try to pantomime asking for a copy of the digital file, his cell phone buzzed loudly in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out, checked the caller ID, and let out a sharp sigh of frustration. Hunter: "Damn it." He stood up abruptly, giving Marie a curt nod. "Stay put, alright? Don't go anywhere." Marie: "Pardon ? Qu'est-ce que vous dites ?" Hunter: "Duty calls. We're not done here."