Run: 2026-07-25-01KYD6WE9PHGG3BG0XPXNQ6GEZ

**Scene: The Cozy Apple Café, Alborn, MN — Late Afternoon** *Marie sits by the window, scrolling through photos on her camera. Her coffee has gone cold. Hunter approaches, badge in hand.* Hunter: "Excuse me, ma'am. Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. Mind if I ask you a few questions? It's about the disappearance at the apple festival last weekend." Marie: "Pardon...? Je ne parle pas anglais. Je suis désolée..." Hunter: "Right. Okay. Uh—" *(gestures to his badge)* "Police. Detective. I'm looking into the missing woman. Emily Hartley. Did you see anything?" Marie: *(visibly paling)* "Emily...? La femme disparue? Oh mon Dieu..." Hunter: "You know her? Ma'am, please—did you see something? People are saying you were taking pictures near the orchard that afternoon." Marie: *(hands trembling as she clutches the camera)* "J'ai... j'ai pris des photos. Dans le verger. Il y avait quelqu'un... un homme dans les arbres. Je pensais que c'était rien, mais maintenant—" Hunter: "Slow down. I can't—are you saying you saw a man? In the orchard?" Marie: "Oui! Oui, un homme! Regardez—" *(she thrusts the camera toward him)* "Cette photo, là! Derrière les pommiers!" Hunter: *(squinting at the screen)* "That's... that's someone in the tree line. Same time Emily went missing. Ma'am, this is important. Can you tell me anything else? Anything you remember?" Marie: *(voice shaking)* "J'ai peur. J'ai très peur. Et si cet homme m'avait vue? Et s'il sait que j'ai cette photo?" Hunter: "I can see you're upset. I wish I understood—look, we'll get a translator down at the station. You'll be safe, I promise you that." Marie: "S'il vous plaît... ne me laissez pas seule. Pas ce soir. Je vous en prie." Hunter: "I don't know what you're saying, but I hear you. You're scared. Nobody's going to hurt you while I'm—" *(his phone buzzes; he checks it and stiffens)* "I'm sorry. I have to take this." Marie: "Non, attendez! S'il vous plaît—" Hunter: *(into the phone)* "Hunter. ...What? Where?" *(glances back at Marie, jaw tight)* "Another one? I'm on my way." Marie: "Qu'est-ce qui se passe? Quelqu'un d'autre a disparu?" Hunter: "Ma'am, stay here. Don't leave town. I'll send an officer over, someone who—" *(sighs)* "—someone. I'll figure something out. Just don't go anywhere." Marie: *(whispering, as he hurries out)* "Mon Dieu... qu'est-ce que j'ai photographié...?" *Marie looks down at her camera screen one more time. In the photograph, half-hidden among the apple trees, a figure stares back toward the lens.*