Run: 2026-09-02-01M1GV6QQ8ZWKWJ17Y6QY4CH8R

*INT. THE APPLE BLOSSOM DINER, MAIN STREET, ALBORN, MN — MORNING DURING FESTIVAL WEEK. ISABELLA sits alone in a corner booth, reviewing photos on her camera. HUNTER crosses the room, badge already out.* **Hunter:** "Ma'am. Detective Hunter, county sheriff's department. Five questions, then I'm gone. You were out on the Orchard Road last night around sundown — past the cider mill. Two different folks remember a young woman with a camera. That you?" **Isabella:** *(looking up, stiffening)* "Mi scusi? Io... io non ho fatto niente di male. Perché mi fa queste domande? Non capisco. Parla più piano, per favore. Sono italiana — sono qui solo per un semestre di studio. Che cosa è successo in questo paese?" **Hunter:** *(blinks; drags a chair over and sits)* "Wonderful. Three people gone in three weeks, and my only lead photographs sunsets and speaks... yeah. Okay. We do this the hard way." *(mimes taking a picture, points at her camera)* "Camera. You. Last night. What did you see? Cars? People? Anything." **Isabella:** *(going pale, hands tightening on the strap)* "Ieri sera... sì. Sì, io c'ero, Dio mio. Ero al frutteto, fotografavo il tramonto sopra le mele, per la sagra... E poi ho sentito delle macchine sul sentiero di servizio. Due, forse tre. E delle voci — uomini che parlavano piano vicino al vecchio fienile. Che litigavano. Poi un silenzio... pesante. E uno di loro si è girato. Si è girato proprio verso di me, signore. Credo... credo che mi abbiano vista." **Hunter:** "Hey. Hey — look at me. Nobody's looking at you now except me, and I'm the friendly one." *(voice flattening into command)* "Breathe. Good. Now hands — show me with your hands. How many men?" **Isabella:** *(holding up two fingers, then a third, uncertain)* "Due... no, forse tre. Era buio. Ma — ma le mostro le foto! Guardi. Guardi qui." *(scrolls with shaking thumbs, turns the little screen toward him)* "Questo furgone grigio. Alle otto e tre — l'orario lo segna la macchina da sola, guardi, qui scritto. È entrato dal sentiero che chiudono per la sagra. E questa l'ho fatta alle otto e undici, lì in fondo al viale. Guardi quella forma. È una persona, signore? O due? Mi sembrava... mi sembrava che la trascinassero via." **Hunter:** *(leaning in, all business now)* "That's a van. Gray. No back windows. And that—" *(taps the screen once)* "Ma'am. Is that a person on the ground? Nod or shake your head." *(she nods; he exhales through his teeth)* "Eight-eleven. The night the Halvorsen girl vanished. You may have just photographed the first useful thing in three weeks." **Isabella:** *(voice cracking)* "Halvorsen... la ragazza dello stand del sidro? In paese tutti ne parlano — alla lavanderia, al mercato, in chiesa. Dicono che non è la prima volta. Che ce ne sono state altre. Signore, è vero? E quelle povere persone... dove sono adesso? Che cosa le hanno fatto?" **Hunter:** "That's the question." *(sits back, studying her)* "That's exactly the question. Alright, here's how this goes. You, me, the sheriff's office, every photo on that camera—" *(catches himself, grimaces)* "—except I don't have a word of whatever it is you're speaking, and you've got no English. At all. Am I right? Nod if I'm right." *(she nods; he closes his eyes briefly)* "Terrific." **Isabella:** "Sì... sì, ha ragione. Ma io giuro, non volevo vedere niente! Venivo solo a fotografare le mele. Le mele, signore! E adesso ci sono degli uomini là fuori che forse mi hanno vista. Che forse sanno dov'abito." *(hugging the camera to her chest)* "Ho paura. Sì. Ho paura." **Hunter:** *(his phone buzzes; he checks it, stands)* "Hold that thought." *(answering, turning away)* "Hunter. ...Slow down. Say that again. ...Where." *(long pause; his eyes flick back to her)* "Nobody touches anything. Nobody walks the treeline. Ten minutes." *(pockets the phone)* "Change of plans. You — stay here. Stay in town. Don't go back out to that orchard, don't open your door for anybody you don't know, and if a gray van rolls past this window—" *(stops, jaw tight)* "Right. Not a word." *(pulls a napkin over, prints HUNTER — SHERIFF'S DEPT. — STAY IN TOWN, slides it across with his card)* "There. Universal language." **Isabella:** *(calling after him as he pushes through the door)* "Aspetti! Signore, aspetti! Non mi lasci così... Devo avere paura? Devo chiamare qualcuno? La mia famiglia ospitante non capisce niente, il professore è in viaggio — signore!" *(pressing the napkin to her chest, watching his car pull away through the window)* "...Che Dio la accompagni. E che non venga quel furgone." --- **Translation key (Isabella's lines):** 1. "Excuse me? I... I haven't done anything wrong. Why are you asking me these things? I don't understand. Speak more slowly, please. I'm Italian — I'm only here for a semester of study. What has happened in this town?" 2. "Last night... yes. Yes, I was there, my God. I was at the orchard, photographing the sunset over the apples, for the festival... Then I heard vehicles on the service road. Two, maybe three. And voices — men speaking quietly near the old barn. Arguing. Then a heavy silence. And one of them turned around. Turned right toward me, sir. I think... I think they saw me." 3. "Two... no, maybe three. It was dark. But — but I'll show you the photos! Look. Look here. This gray van. At 8:03 — the camera logs the time by itself, see, written here. It came in on the trail they close for the festival. And I took this one at 8:11, down at the end of the lane. Look at that shape. Is it a person, sir? Or two? It seemed... it seemed like they were dragging her away." 4. "Halvorsen... the girl from the cider stand? Everyone in town talks about it — at the laundromat, the market, church. They say it isn't the first time. That there have been others. Sir, is it true? And those poor people... where are they now? What has been done to them?" 5. "Yes... yes, you're right. But I swear, I didn't want to see anything! I only came to photograph the apples. The apples, sir! And now there are men out there who maybe saw me. Who maybe know where I live. I'm frightened. Yes. I'm frightened." 6. "Wait! Sir, wait! Don't leave me like this... Should I be afraid? Should I call someone? My host family doesn't understand anything, my professor is traveling — sir! ...God go with you. And may that van not come."