Run: 2026-09-23-01M37PK71RS54BVN9YG252PX8V

**Scene: The Crumb & Cider Café, Alborn, MN — mid-afternoon. Selvi sits alone at a window table, scrolling through photos on her camera. Hunter enters, spots her, and approaches.** --- **Hunter:** "Excuse me. Mind if I take a seat? Detective Hunter, Alborn PD." *(He holds up his badge, then places a photograph of the apple festival on the table.)* "I'm asking folks about that night — October twelfth. You were out near Miller's Orchard with that camera, is that right?" **Selvi:** *(She looks up, startled, then troubled. Her hands tighten around the camera.)* "मैं... हाँ, मैं वहाँ थी। लेकिन वहाँ कुछ ठीक नहीं था। बाग़ के पीछे एक आदमी खड़ा था... वह बहुत शांत था, बिल्कुल हिलता नहीं था। मैंने उसे अपने कैमरे में देखा — तब डर गई थी।" *(I... yes, I was there. But something wasn't right there. A man was standing behind the orchard... he was very still, he didn't move at all. I saw him through my camera — I got scared then.)* **Hunter:** *(A slow blink. He glances at the door, then back at her.)* "Right. Okay. I don't — ma'am, I don't speak Hindi. Not a word of it, I'm afraid." *(He taps his chest, then the badge.)* "Police. Alborn. Police." *(He points at the festival photograph, then at her camera.)* "That night. You were there. You... saw something?" **Selvi:** *(She sets the camera down slowly, as if it's something fragile.)* "आप पुलिस हैं... मैं आपकी भाषा नहीं समझती, यह तो आप भी समझ गए होंगे।" *(You're police... I don't understand your language — you've probably figured that out by now.)* *(She exhales, taps the camera, then the photograph.)* "मेरी तस्वीरें। जो मैंने देखा, वह सब इसके अंदर है। यहाँ — देखिए।" *(My photos. Everything I saw is inside this. Here — look.)* **Hunter:** *(He watches her gestures, then nods slowly.)* "Photos. You have photos. Alright — show me." **Selvi:** *(She turns the camera's screen toward him and clicks through several shots of the festival — lanterns, the cider press, a crowd. Then she stops on the last one and her hand trembles.)* "यह... यह वही आदमी है। शाम को ली थी यह तस्वीर। वह पेड़ों के बीच खड़ा था, और वह मुझे देख रहा था। पूरी तरह से मुझे देख रहा था। मैं वहीं भाग खड़ी हुई।" *(This... this is that man. I took this picture in the evening. He was standing between the trees, and he was watching me. Watching only me. I ran from right there.)* **Hunter:** *(He leans in, studying the screen. A tall figure in a dark coat, half-swallowed by the orchard shadows. His jaw tightens.)* "Son of a — that's the culvert path. That's right where the second one went missing." *(He looks up at her.)* "When was this? What time? Ma'am — what *time*?" *(He taps his watch.)* **Selvi:** *(She taps the timestamp on the screen, then draws a small arc in the air like the setting sun.)* "शाम। सूरज डूब रहा था। लगभग साढ़े छह बजे। उसके बाद मैंने वहाँ एक बार भी नहीं देखा... लेकिन कल रात, मेरे होटल के बाहर, वह फिर था। यही कोट, यही टोपी। वह कुछ कहा नहीं, बस खड़ा रहा।" *(Evening. The sun was setting. Around half past six. After that I never saw him there again... but last night, outside my hotel, he was there again. Same coat, same hat. He didn't say anything — he just stood there.)* **Hunter:** *(His expression sharpens — the no-nonsense edge surfacing.)* "Your hotel? He followed you to your hotel?" *(He points at her, then at the screen, then toward the street.)* "Outside. Last night?" **Selvi:** *(She nods rapidly, wrapping both arms around the camera.)* "हाँ, हाँ — बाहर, रात में। मैं डरी हुई हूँ, समझते हैं आप? मैं यहाँ अकेली हूँ, मुझे किसी से बात नहीं कर सकती। यह तस्वीर अब मेरे पास एकमात्र सबूत है।" *(Yes, yes — outside, at night. I'm frightened, do you understand? I'm alone here, I can't talk to anyone. This picture is the only proof I have.)* **Hunter:** "Okay. Okay — I'm getting that. You're scared. He followed you." *(He pulls out a card and sets it on the table, tapping it twice.)* "This is me. Detective Hunter. You keep that on you. I'm going to find someone who speaks Hindi — someone proper, today — and we're going to sit down and go through every photo on that camera. Don't delete anything. Don't go near the orchard. And if you see that man again—" *(he mimes picking up a phone)* "—you call. You call me." **Selvi:** *(She picks up the card carefully, reading the name even though she can't read the rest.)* "हंटर... ठीक है। मैं इसे रख लूँगी। और मैं कुछ नहीं मिटाऊँगी — यह कैमरा मेरी आँखें हैं। जो देखा, वह इसमें है।" *(Hunter... all right. I'll keep it. And I won't erase anything — this camera is my eyes. What was seen is in here.)* **Hunter:** *(His phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and his whole posture changes — shoulders squared, marine-straight.)* "Hunter." *(pause)* "The culvert off Route 4? Again? ... No — nobody touches the scene until I get there. Ten minutes." *(He hangs up, already standing, and takes one last look at the photo on her camera.)* "Ma'am — Selvi. Stay inside tonight. Lock your door. I'll be back." **Selvi:** *(She looks up at him, troubled but steadier.)* "आपका फ़ोन... जाइए, जरूरी काम होगा। लेकिन कृपया — उस आदमी को ढूँढिए। वह मेरे पीछे क्यों है... यह मुझे समझ नहीं आता।" *(Your phone... go, it must be urgent. But please — find that man. Why is he following me... I don't understand it.)* **Hunter:** *(He hesitates half a second at the table — catching her tone if not her words — then gives a single firm nod.)* "I will. Whatever you just said — I will." *(He strides out. Selvi watches him cross the street, then turns the camera over in her hands and stares at the last photo — the man in the orchard — as the café lights flicker on against the early dusk.)* **— END SCENE —**