Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DA5ZJN0PQZZ512V8QZFBQQ

**THE ALBORN FILE** *Scene One: Birch & Brew Café, Main Street* *[Late afternoon. Melanie sits alone at a corner table by the window, her camera in her lap. She scrolls through the photos on its small screen, her hands unsteady. Hunter enters, badge clipped to his belt, and stops at her table.]* **Hunter:** "Afternoon. Detective Hunter, Alborn PD. Mind if I sit? I'm looking into what happened out at Kessler's orchard Saturday night. Folks say you were out there with that camera of yours." **Melanie:** "Entschuldigung, ich verstehe Sie nicht. Sind Sie... von der Polizei?" *[Translation: Excuse me, I don't understand you. Are you... from the police?]* **Hunter:** *(pause)* "Okay. Sure. Do you speak English?" **Melanie:** "Ich spreche kein Englisch. Es tut mir leid." *[I don't speak English. I'm sorry.]* **Hunter:** "Great. Perfect." *(He pulls out his phone and types, then reads slowly.)* "Hello. You... are safe? Sit?" *[Melanie hesitates, then gestures to the empty chair. Hunter sits.]* **Melanie:** "Bitte, setzen Sie sich. Ich... ich habe etwas gesehen. Letzte Nacht. Ich habe Fotos gemacht, und ich weiß nicht, was ich tun soll." *[Please, sit down. I... I saw something. Last night. I took photos, and I don't know what to do.]* **Hunter:** "Yeah, you're upset. I get that." *(He points at her camera.)* "Photos? Can I see?" *[Melanie turns the screen toward him. A grainy night image: fog over rows of apple trees, a pickup truck with its headlights off, and a faint figure at the tree line.]* **Melanie:** "Das hier. Der Mann dort... er war nicht allein. Und am Morgen war er verschwunden. Die Zeit steht auf dem Bild. Sehen Sie." *[This one. The man there... he wasn't alone. And by morning he had vanished. The time is on the picture. Look.]* **Hunter:** *(leaning in, squinting)* "Hold on. Which timestamp? ...One twelve a.m.? Saturday?" *(He taps the screen.)* "Is that the truck? Can you zoom in on the plate?" *[Melanie swipes and zooms. The plate is blurred. She shakes her head and says something rapid and frustrated in German.]* **Melanie:** "Nein, nein. Es ist zu dunkel. Aber ich kenne den Wagen. Ich habe ihn schon einmal gesehen, am Fluss." *[No, no. It's too dark. But I know the car. I've seen it before, by the river.]* **Hunter:** "I've got no idea what you just said, but I'm guessing you're telling me something useful." *(He pulls up a photo on his own phone: a middle-aged man with a gray beard, smiling at a county fair.)* "This is Dale Pruitt. Is this the man in your picture?" *[Melanie stares at the phone. Her breath catches. She looks away, then back.]* **Melanie:** "Ja... nein. Ich weiß es nicht. Vielleicht. Bitte, ich habe Angst." *[Yes... no. I don't know. Maybe. Please, I'm scared.]* **Hunter:** *(quieter, softer)* "Hey. Nobody's going to hurt you in here. You're in the middle of Main Street, okay? Half the town's walking past that window right now." *[His phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and stands.]* **Hunter:** *(into phone)* "Hunter. ...Yeah. Now? ...How far out? ...Fine. Twenty minutes." *[He ends the call and looks at Melanie. She is gripping the camera tightly.]* **Melanie:** "Warten Sie! Bitte gehen Sie nicht weg. Wer wird mir helfen?" *[Wait! Please don't go. Who's going to help me?]* **Hunter:** "I've got to go. Something came up." *(He pulls a card from his wallet and sets it on the table.)* "That's my number. Don't delete anything on that camera. Keep it safe. And don't leave town, all right?" *(He points at her, then at the card, then at the window.)* "Stay. I'm getting someone who speaks German down here. Understand? Someone who speaks German." **Melanie:** "Ich verstehe kein Wort, aber... gut. Ich bleibe hier." *[I don't understand a word, but... fine. I'll stay here.]* *[Hunter nods once and heads for the door. The bell above it chimes. Melanie looks down at the frozen image on her screen: the truck, the figure, the fog. She speaks softly to herself.]* **Melanie:** "Was habe ich da nur fotografiert?" *[What did I just photograph?]* *[Lights fade.]*