Run: 2026-09-02-01M1GRR5E49QKZW1ESTE2GDMC1

*[The Apple Core Café, Alborn, MN — Monday morning. Paper apple garlands from the festival still hang in the window. MARIE sits alone, scrolling through photos on her camera. HUNTER approaches, badge out.]* **Hunter:** "Ma'am? Excuse me, ma'am. Detective Hunter, Alborn County. You're the photography student staying with the Bergstroms, right? I need five minutes about Saturday night. The Brandt woman. You were shooting near the orchard when she disappeared." **Marie:** *(looking up, startled)* "Pardon ? Je... je suis désolée, je ne comprends pas. Vous parlez trop vite. Je ne parle pas anglais." **Hunter:** "The orchard. Saturday. Around seven o'clock. Did you see anyone? A truck, a stranger, anything off?" **Marie:** *(hands tightening around the camera, voice unsteady)* "Oh mon Dieu. Vous êtes la police. C'est à propos de cette femme disparue, n'est-ce pas ?... Monsieur, je ne comprends pas un mot, mais... attendez. Attendez ! J'ai quelque chose. Regardez." **Hunter:** *(scanning the café, then back at her)* "Whoa, whoa. Slow down. I don't speak... any of that. Anyone in here speak French?... No? Fine. We'll do this the hard way. What are you showing me?" **Marie:** *(scrolling, trembling)* "Je photographiais les vergers pour le festival. Samedi soir, la lumière était magnifique... et là. Là, près de la grange. Vous voyez ? Un homme. Il portait quelque chose de lourd sur l'épaule." **Hunter:** *(squinting at the camera screen)* "I don't understand a word you're saying, ma'am, but I understand that picture. Go back. Right there. That's a person." **Marie:** "Oui ! Oui, une personne ! Et après... monsieur, après, j'ai entendu un cri. Un cri étouffé, vers la rivière. Je croyais que c'était un renard. Un renard ! Quelle idiote..." **Hunter:** "A... what? Renard? Is that an animal? Talk slower. We're gonna do this with our hands, okay? The man. Was he big? *This* big?" **Marie:** *(gesturing)* "Grand. Très grand. Avec une casquette foncée et un manteau vert. Il marchait vite, vers le nord. J'ai pris une autre photo, mais il faisait sombre, c'est tout flou... J'aurais dû appeler la police tout de suite, mais je ne parle pas la langue et j'ai eu peur. Pardonnez-moi." **Hunter:** "Okay, okay. Big guy. Dark cap — how do I... yes! You're getting it. Green coat? Green. And he went... point, ma'am. Point which way." **Marie:** *(pointing north, eyes wet)* "Par là. Vers la rivière. Vous comprenez ? La rivière !" **Hunter:** "The river. Yeah, I got it. Hang on—" *(phone rings)* "Hunter. ...Slow down. The Kowalski place? ...Nobody touches that barn until I get there. Seal it off. Ten minutes." *(pocketing the phone)* "Ma'am, I've gotta run. Don't delete those photos. Don't show them to anyone but me. Stay somewhere public, you understand me? *Public.*" **Marie:** "Quoi ? Attendez ! Monsieur, attendez ! Je n'ai pas fini — vous ne comprenez pas, il faut—" **Hunter:** *(already at the door, pointing at her, then himself)* "You. Me. Station. Later. Suivez... moi? That's it. That's the whole phrasebook. Damn it, somebody at the office better speak French." **Marie:** *(calling after him, hugging the camera to her chest)* "Monsieur ! ...La grange. C'était la grange, je le sais... Oh, pourquoi est-ce que personne ne comprend jamais ?"