Run: 2026-09-29-01M3P2EJNE8E1K0TN1THCKSJH5

**Café scene: Marie and Hunter** *(French lines are followed by an English gloss in brackets for the reader only. Hunter understands none of it.)* Hunter: "Excuse me, miss. Mind if I sit? I'm Detective Hunter, Alborn PD." Marie: "Pardon ? Je... je ne comprends pas." *(Sorry? I... I don't understand.)* Hunter: "Detective. Police." *(He taps the badge on his belt.)* Marie: "Police ? Oh... oui, d'accord." *(Police? Oh... yes, all right.)* Hunter: "Right. I'm looking into what happened out at the Lindqvist orchard last night. Folks say you were out that way. Taking pictures?" Marie: "Le verger... oui. Oui, j'étais là-bas. C'était horrible. Je n'arrive toujours pas à y croire." *(The orchard... yes. Yes, I was there. It was horrible. I still can't believe it.)* Hunter: "Slow down, ma'am. I don't follow. Orchard. Last night. You were there?" Marie: "Hier soir, j'ai voulu photographier le coucher de soleil sur les pommiers. Et puis j'ai entendu quelqu'un crier." *(Last night, I wanted to photograph the sunset over the apple trees. And then I heard someone shouting.)* Hunter: "Okay... You're talking awful fast, and I'm not getting a word of it. English? Any English at all?" Marie: "Je suis désolée. Je ne parle pas anglais. Pas encore. Pas un mot." *(I'm sorry. I don't speak English. Not yet. Not a word.)* Hunter: "Not a word. Great. Well, that makes two of us in a mess." *(He points at the camera.)* "That. Camera. Can I see?" Marie: "Mon appareil photo ? Non... enfin, si. Attendez. Regardez, c'est cette photo-là." *(My camera? No... well, yes. Wait. Look, it's this photo here.)* Hunter: "Easy, easy. Let me see that." *(He squints at the screen.)* "That's the orchard road. Trees, fog... And that's a truck, isn't it? Parked by the gate?" Marie: "Oui, le camion. Il n'avait pas de lumières. Et cet homme, là, près de la barrière, vous le voyez ?" *(Yes, the truck. It had no lights on. And this man, there, near the fence, do you see him?)* Hunter: "You're pointing at the fence. Something by the fence." *(He leans closer.)* "That's a person. Or a shadow. Can you zoom in on this?" Marie: "Non, non, pas comme ça... Là. Regardez. Il regardait droit vers moi." *(No, no, not like that... There. Look. He was looking right at me.)* Hunter: "Okay, okay. You look scared half to death. Did somebody see you out there?" *(He mimes a pair of eyes with two fingers, then points at her.)* Marie: "Oui ! Exactement. Il m'a vue. J'ai couru jusqu'à ma voiture, et je tremblais tellement que j'ai failli ne pas réussir à démarrer." *(Yes! Exactly. He saw me. I ran to my car, and I was shaking so much I almost couldn't start it.)* Hunter: "I'm going to take that as a yes." *(He pulls out a notepad, then stops.)* "Can you write it down? Write. Name?" Marie: "Mon nom ? Marie. Marie Delacroix." *(My name? Marie. Marie Delacroix.)* Hunter: "Marie." *(He taps his chest.)* "Hunter." Marie: "Hunter. Enchantée." *(Hunter. Pleased to meet you.)* Hunter: "Yeah. Same to you, I guess." *(He slides the notepad across.)* "Write down the time. Time? Last night?" Marie: "Ah, l'heure. Vers dix-neuf heures, peut-être un peu plus tard." *(Ah, the time. Around seven o'clock, maybe a little later.)* Hunter: "You're writing numbers... nineteen hundred. That's seven p.m. Okay. That lines up with when Tom Lindqvist's foreman stopped answering his phone." Marie: "Vous pensez que cet homme est celui qui... qui a fait disparaître quelqu'un ?" *(Do you think this man is the one who... who made someone disappear?)* Hunter: "I don't know what you just said, but you went pale as a sheet, so I'm guessing you have the same bad feeling I do." *(A phone buzzes. Hunter checks the screen and grimaces.)* Hunter: "Hunter. ...Yeah. ...Where? ...How long ago? ...Copy that. I'm on my way." Marie: "Il y a un problème ?" *(Is something wrong?)* Hunter: "Sorry, Marie. I've got to go. Something's come up." *(He stands, then points at the camera and at her.)* "Don't delete those photos. Understand? Keep. Camera. Safe." Marie: "Mes photos ? Vous voulez que je les garde ?" *(My photos? You want me to keep them?)* Hunter: "Keep them. Right." *(He tears a page from his notepad, writes on it, and presses it into her hand.)* "My number. Somebody here can translate. I'll find someone. Stay in town. Stay where people are." Marie: "Vous reviendrez ? Je ne veux pas rester seule avec ça." *(You'll come back? I don't want to be left alone with this.)* Hunter: "I'll be back. I promise." *(He hesitates at the door.)* "Lock your car tonight." Marie: "Attendez ! Au moins, dites-moi ce que je dois faire !" *(Wait! At least tell me what I'm supposed to do!)* Hunter: "I'll find someone who speaks your language, Marie. Hang tight."