Run: 2026-09-03-01M1KZ274ADCA2CHCCRR19WXW2

Hunter: (approaching, no-nonsense) "Excuse me. Detective Hunter, Alborn P.D. Mind if I ask you a few questions? It's about the apple festival—the night Tom Ellery went missing." Marie: (troubled, shaken) "Pardon? Je... je ne comprends pas. Je ne parle pas anglais." (Sorry? I... I don't understand. I don't speak English.) Hunter: (confused) "Right. No English. Great. Okay. Uh... do you understand 'missing'? Disappeared? At the orchard? The apple festival?" Marie: (gripping her camera) "Le festival des pommes... oui. J'y étais. J'ai pris des photos avec mon appareil. Et j'ai vu... mon Dieu, j'ai vu quelque chose." (The apple festival... yes. I was there. I took photos with my camera. And I saw... my God, I saw something.) Hunter: (confused, leaning in) "You took photos? Of what? Who did you see? Can I see the camera? Camera?" Marie: (nods, handing him the camera, shaken) "Oui, regardez. Là, près du vieux verger. Un homme courait. Il portait un sac. Il est tombé... et il y avait du sang sur la terre. J'ai essayé de le suivre, mais l'ombre..." (Yes, look. There, near the old orchard. A man was running. He was carrying a bag. He fell... and there was blood on the ground. I tried to follow him, but the shadow...) Hunter: (frowning at the photos) "Blood? Someone hurt? Tom Ellery? Brown jacket? Do you know him? Tom? Tom?" Marie: (shaking) "Je ne connais pas son nom. Mais j'ai vu son visage sur l'affiche à Alborn. Le même homme. Il marchait vers le verger et... et il n'est jamais revenu. Comme les autres disparus." (I don't know his name. But I saw his face on the poster in Alborn. The same man. He was walking toward the orchard and... and he never came back. Like the other missing people.) Hunter: (running a hand over his face, confused) "Others? There are others? Where are they? Lady, I need you to slow down. Do you speak *any* English? Any at all?" Marie: "Non, seulement français. Écoutez, il y avait une ombre. Grande, immobile, près de la grange à cidre. Quand j'ai pris la photo, le flash... l'ombre a disparu. Mais elle était là. J'en suis sûre." (No, only French. Listen, there was a shadow. Tall, motionless, near the cider barn. When I took the photo, the flash... the shadow disappeared. But it was there. I'm sure of it.) Hunter: "Shadow? A person? Did you see a face? A truck? Anything? Damn it—I need a translator. Look, stay right here. Do not leave." Marie: "Une ombre, c'est tout ce que j'ai vu. Et le lendemain, le journal a dit: 'Encore une disparition à Alborn.' J'ai peur, monsieur. Je n'ai rien dit parce que je suis étudiante ici, je ne veux pas d'ennuis. Mais mes photos..." (A shadow, that's all I saw. And the next day, the newspaper said: 'Another disappearance in Alborn.' I'm afraid, sir. I didn't say anything because I'm a student here, I don't want trouble. But my photos...) Hunter: (phone rings) "Hold on." (answers) "Hunter. ... Yeah, copy. I'm ten minutes out. On my way." (to Marie) "I have to go. Stay. Wait right here. Interpreter—someone who speaks French. Wait." Marie: (standing, distressed) "Attendez! Ne partez pas, s'il vous plaît. J'ai peur. Et si cette ombre revenait? Prenez mes photos..." (Wait! Don't leave, please. I'm afraid. What if that shadow comes back? Take my photos...) Hunter: (firm, already moving) "I'll be back. Right here. Don't move."