Run: 2026-09-02-01M1GRZBA0V1BH2DTNHZT8ETRM

**VOICE SHEET — "The Only Witness"** *Setting: The Orchard Room Café, Main Street, Alborn, MN. Mid-morning. SELVI (30) sits alone at a window table, her camera in her lap. She scrolls to the same photo again and again — thumb hovering over it, not quite zooming in. DETECTIVE HUNTER (35) crosses to her table, badge already out.* *Selvi's lines are in romanized Hindi; italicized parentheticals give the English translation.* Hunter: "Ma'am. Don't get up. Detective Hunter, Alborn County. Couple of questions about last night, then you can have your coffee back." Selvi: *(staring at her camera, not really seeing him)* "Nahi... nahi, maine kuch nahi dekha. Maine sirf... sirf sooraj dhalte waqt tasveerein li thin. Bas." *(No... no, I didn't see anything. I only... only took pictures at sunset. That's all.)* Hunter: *(blinking, clearly lost)* "...Alright. Easy there. I just need to know—" Selvi: "Mujhe angrezi nahi aati. Aap kya keh rahe hain? Kripaya... kripaya mujhe jaane dijiye." *(I don't know English. What are you saying? Please... please let me go.)* Hunter: *holds up both hands* "Whoa. Okay. Do—you—speak—English? Anyone at all?" Hunter: "Fantastic. Third one this month, and my only witness speaks..." *waves a hand vaguely* "...something." *He pulls a folded flyer from his jacket and smooths it on the table. A young woman's smiling face. MISS APPLE BLOSSOM — JULIE SANDVIK, 19.* Hunter: "You were out by Miller's Orchard last evening. Fella at the feed store says a woman with a camera was up on the north rise around sundown. That you?" *Selvi looks at the flyer. The color drains from her face. Her hands tighten around the camera.* Selvi: "Yeh ladki... Yeh Julie hai? Maine... maine isse dekha tha." *(This girl... This is Julie? I... I saw her.)* Hunter: *(chair scrapes as he sits down fast)* "Say that again. Slow. Whatever you just said—say it slow." Selvi: *(turning the camera around, screen facing him, hands trembling)* "Dekhiye. Maine kal shaam seb ke baagh ki tasveerein li thin. Ismein... ismein woh hai." *(Look. I took pictures of the apple orchard yesterday evening. In this one... in this one, there she is.)* Hunter: "Relax, I'm not confiscating your camera, I just—" *(glances at the screen)* "...huh." Selvi: "Zoom kijiye. Pedon ke paas. Wahan—wahan khadi hai." *(Zoom in. By the trees. There—she's standing there.)* *Hunter takes the camera like it might go off in his hands. Two fingers. Zooms. Goes very still.* Hunter: "...That's a person. Standing in the trees." *points at the photo, then the flyer* "Is that Julie? Are you telling me that's Julie?" Selvi: "Haan! Usi ki choti, usi ke jhumke—suniye, aur ek baat hai. Uske peeche... peeth karke... ek aadmi khada tha." *(Yes! The same braid, the same earrings—listen, and there's one more thing. Behind her... with his back turned... a man was standing.)* Hunter: *(notepad out, pen uncapped)* "A man. Where? Point." Selvi: *(taps the edge of the screen)* "Yahan. Pedon ke andar. Woh tab bhi wahin tha—bilkul shaant. Jaise patthar." *(Here. Inside the trees. He was there the whole time—perfectly still. Like a stone.)* Hunter: "Which I'd understand if you said it. Which I don't. Okay—height." *holds a flat hand at six feet* "This tall?" Selvi: "Nahi... darmiyana qad. Lekin mota. Bahut mota. Kandhe... kandhe bade the." *(No... medium height. But heavy. Very heavy. Shoulders... broad shoulders.)* Hunter: *writes* "Heavyset. In the trees, at sundown. Carrying anything?" Selvi: "Haan. Uske haath mein kuch chamak raha tha. Chaandi jaisa. Bada sa... bartan?" *(Yes. Something glinted in his hand. Like silver. A big... vessel?)* Hunter: "Like silver. Big." *writes METAL — BIG — SILVER, underlines it twice* "And Julie? Did she walk off with him? Did he grab her? Any sound? A truck, a door, anything?" Selvi: *(voice dropping to a whisper)* "Koi awaaz nahi aayi. Bas ek dafa... jaise kisi ne andar se, band darwaze par dastak di ho. Bilkul dheemi." *(No sound came. Just once... like someone knocking from inside, on a closed door. Very soft.)* Hunter: *(a long look at her)* "...You know what, I can't make out a single word you're saying. But I know scared when I see it, and you've been scared since I walked up." *flips the notepad shut* "Here's what we're gonna do." *His phone buzzes against his chest. He checks the screen. His jaw goes tight.* Hunter: "Hold that thought." *(into phone)* "Hunter. ...The grange hall? Who found—yeah, yeah. Nobody touches that room. Tape it, put Ryan on the door. Ten minutes." *He stands, drops a business card face-up on the table, and taps the camera once with one finger.* Hunter: "Camera stays with you. Don't delete a single frame—not till I say so. Sit right here where folks can see you, and when I get back, we finish this. One way or the other." *(to the counter, on his way out)* "Diane—her coffee's on me." *The door chimes. He's gone.* Selvi: *(alone, looking from the card to the screen)* "Lautna... zaroor lautna." *(Come back... you have to come back.)* *She looks at the photo one more time — the girl in the trees, the still shape behind her — and whispers:* Selvi: "Is chhote se sheher mein... yeh log jaate kahan hain?" *(In this small little town... where do these people go?)* **END SCENE**