Run: 2026-09-23-01M36TK7GXTJGSG1Q7T1NS7KF3

# Café Encounter — Voice Sheet **INT. SUNDAWN CAFÉ — DAY** *Selvi sits alone at a small wooden table near the window, her camera resting beside her half-finished chai. She turns it over in her hands, reviewing photos on the small screen — landscapes, mostly: apple orchards, rolling fields, a washed-out Midwestern sky. She frowns slightly at one image and zooms in. The café is quiet. A bell jingles over the door.* *Detective Hunter enters. He scans the room — not for coffee, for people. He's holding a notepad. He spots Selvi and walks over, pulling out the chair across from her without waiting to be invited.* --- **Hunter:** "Mind if I sit? I'm Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. You're Selvi, right? Exchange student — photography program?" *Selvi looks up, startled. She blinks at him, then offers a polite, uncertain smile. She glances at his badge clipped to his belt.* **Selvi:** "Haan… ji, woh toh main hi hoon. Par aap… aap kya chahte hain? Kuch problem hai kya?" *(She shifts uncomfortably under his direct gaze.)* **Hunter:** "I'm investigating a missing person — a woman, late twenties, brown hair, last seen near the orchard road three nights ago. You were out taking photographs that evening. Did you see anything unusual?" *He slides a printed photo across the table — a headshot of the missing woman.* *Selvi studies the photo. Her expression changes. Her grip tightens on her camera. The colour drains from her face. She presses a hand to her mouth, eyes widening.* **Selvi:** "Oh God… oh… yeh toh wahi hai! Yahi toh ladki hai woh! Main… maine use dekha tha. Us raat… sadak ke paas. Woh daud rahi thi… aur uske peeche… koi tha…" *Her voice trembles. She sets the camera down slowly, as if its weight has suddenly doubled.* **Selvi:** "Mujhe samajh nahi aa raha… mujhe darr lag raha hai. Maine use madad maangte suna… par main samajh hi nahi payi kya keh rahi thi… Woh kuch aisi zubaan mein keh rahi thi jo mujhe nahi aati. Phir… phir woh gayab ho gayi." *She looks at Hunter with desperate, pleading eyes — searching his face for any sign of understanding. Hunter stares back, completely blank. He tilts his head slightly, notepad frozen mid-air.* **Hunter:** "…Yeah. I'm gonna need you to repeat that in English." *Selvi opens her mouth, then closes it. She exhales sharply through her nose, frustrated. She points at herself, then mimes holding a camera. She shakes her head vigorously and taps her ears.* **Selvi:** "Angrezi… nahi. Mujhe angrezi nahi aati. Nahi. ZERO. Nothing." *She draws a large zero in the air with her finger, then points to her own head and shakes it again, more emphatically.* **Hunter:** "You don't speak English?" **Selvi:** *(shaking her head)* "Nahi. Hindi. Sirf Hindi. H-I-N-D-I." *She spells it out slowly, hoping the letters carry meaning. Hunter writes "HINDI?" in his notepad and underlines it.* **Hunter:** "Hindi. Okay. That's… gonna be a problem. Look — can you just point? On the photo. Where you were standing that night?" *He slides the photo back toward her. Selvi studies it — it's a headshot, not a location map. She looks back at him, confused.* **Selvi:** "Yeh kya hai? Yeh toh sirf uski tasveer hai… main kahan se bataun ki main kahan khadi thi? Mujhe toh ye jagah dikhao na…" *She gestures broadly at the table, the window, as if asking him to show her a map. Hunter pinches the bridge of his nose.* **Hunter:** "Okay. I'm not getting anywhere with this, am I." *Selvi lets out a long, exasperated sigh and picks up her chai. She takes a slow sip, staring at him over the rim of the cup with unmistakable frustration.* **Selvi:** "Aap mujhe bilkul samajh nahi rahe, aur main aapko bilkul samajh nahi rahi. Toh hum yahan kya kar rahe hain? Cup of tea enjoy karne?" *She gestures between them with a wry, humourless smile.* **Hunter:** "I know it's frustrating. Believe me, I've got four witnesses this week who can't tell me what they saw, and only one of them is in English. I just — look, did you see anyone following her? A man, maybe? A car?" *He mimes driving a steering wheel, then points at the photo again. Selvi watches his pantomime carefully. Then — something clicks. Her eyes go wide. She puts down her cup abruptly.* **Selvi:** "Car…? Haan… ek car thi. Ek kaali car. Purani si. Woh raste ke kinare khadi thi… headlight band thi. Aur jab woh ladki bhaagi… woh car bhi chal padi." *She starts gesturing eagerly now, hands moving — the car, the road, the girl running. The frustration gives way to urgency. She's animated, leaning forward.* **Selvi:** "Par… us car ka number plate mujhe nahi dikha. Andhera tha. Bahut andhera. Bas headlights ki roshni mein… kaali car thi. Teen-chaar log usme baithe the. Teen… haan, teen log." *She holds up three fingers firmly. Hunter leans in, squinting — catching the gesture but not the words.* **Hunter:** "Three… you're saying three? Three people?" **Selvi:** *(nodding vigorously)* "Haan! Teen. Teen log. Teen log andar the." *She holds up three fingers again, closer to his face, making sure he sees them. Hunter writes "3 SUSPECTS IN BLACK CAR" in his notepad.* **Hunter:** "Black car. Three people. Did you get a picture?" *He points at her camera. Selvi's eyes light up. She grabs the camera eagerly and starts scrolling through her photos, holding the screen toward him. Hunter leans in — but the language barrier has stalled. She finds what she's looking for and turns the screen fully toward him.* *On the camera's display: a distant, grainy shot of an empty rural road at dusk. A dark sedan is just barely visible at the far edge of the frame, half-hidden behind a cluster of trees. One headlight appears to be off.* **Selvi:** "Yeh dekho! Maine liya tha. Main bas… landscape le rahi thi, par… par yeh aa gaya. Apne aap. Camera ke andar aa gaya." *She's practically thrusting the camera into his hands, pointing at the screen. Hunter takes it carefully, holding it like evidence.* **Hunter:** "Holy — is that the car?" *Before Selvi can respond, Hunter's phone rings. He looks at the screen — his jaw tightens. He answers, turning slightly away from the table.* **Hunter:** "Hunter. — What? … Where? — I'm on my way." *He hangs up and stands abruptly, grabbing his notepad. He looks down at Selvi — at her camera, still in his hand. He hesitates, then holds it out to her.* **Hunter:** "I need to take this. The photo — I'll need the full file. Can you email it to me? The PD's website is on my card." *He places a business card on the table. Selvi picks it up, looks at it, and stares back at him blankly.* **Selvi:** "…Email? E-m-e…? Bhaiya, mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha aap kya keh rahe ho." *Hunter glances toward the door, the urgency of the call pulling at him. He mimes typing on a keyboard, then sending — a little airplane motion with his hand.* **Selvi:** "…Computer? Phone par bhejna hai?" **Hunter:** "Yes! Exactly. Just — send me that photo. Please. I'll follow up." *He gives a curt nod and turns to leave. Selvi sits there, the business card in one hand and her chai in the other. She watches him go, then looks down at the card, then at her camera. She shakes her head slowly.* **Selvi:** "…Yeh shehar bahut ajeeb hai." *She picks up her camera and takes a photo of the business card sitting on the table — just to remember it.* --- **[END SCENE]**