Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DA77WTSYT39MZF56BVZ7G9

**VOICE SHEET** *Cozy Mystery: "The Apple Orchard Photographs," Scene 1* *Setting: Corner table, Maple Street Café, Alborn, MN. Late morning. Melanie's camera sits on the table between them.* **Hunter:** "Excuse me. Hunter, with the county sheriff's department. Mind if I sit down?" **Melanie:** "Entschuldigung, ich verstehe Sie nicht. Bitte, ich spreche kein Englisch." *[Translation: Sorry, I don't understand you. Please, I don't speak English.]* **Hunter:** "Okay. I'm guessing that's a no. I'm looking into what happened at the orchard on Route 9 last Saturday, the night of the apple festival. You were out there with that camera. Do you remember seeing anyone near the east rows?" **Melanie:** "Ich war dort, am Abend. Ich habe Fotos gemacht, und dann... dann war da jemand. Im Nebel. Ich weiß nicht, wer es war. Ich habe Angst." *[Translation: I was there, in the evening. I took photos, and then... then someone was there. In the fog. I don't know who it was. I'm scared.]* **Hunter:** "Whoa, slow down. I got 'orchard,' and I got 'fog,' I think. Anything else?" **Melanie:** "Bitte, verstehen Sie doch. Die Kamera. Schauen Sie. Die Bilder von dieser Nacht. Die Frau mit dem roten Schal, sie war da, und dann war sie weg." *[Translation: Please, just understand. The camera. Look. The pictures from that night. The woman with the red scarf, she was there, and then she was gone.]* **Hunter:** *(leaning in, watching her hands tremble)* "Hey, it's okay. Whatever you're trying to show me, I'm not going to take it from you. Here, you can point. Show me." **Melanie:** *(turning the camera screen toward him, scrolling with shaking fingers)* "Hier. Diese Reihe. Sehen Sie? Die Frau. Und hier, sechs Minuten später, ist ihr Schal auf dem Boden. Und niemand ist mehr da." *[Translation: Here. This row. Do you see? The woman. And here, six minutes later, her scarf is on the ground. And no one is there anymore.]* **Hunter:** *(squinting at the screen, then at her)* "Okay. So she's there, and then she isn't. That's what you're telling me? Ms. Weber's daughter was reported missing that same night. Her scarf was red, too." **Melanie:** *(nodding quickly, tears forming)* "Ja, ja! Das habe ich in der Zeitung gelesen. Ich wusste, ich musste es jemandem sagen. Aber Sie sprechen nicht Deutsch, oder?" *[Translation: Yes, yes! I read that in the newspaper. I knew I had to tell someone. But you don't speak German, do you?]* **Hunter:** *(half-smiling, tapping the table)* "Not a word. But I'm getting the feeling you know more than you think you do. Can you send me those photos? Email, AirDrop, a thumb drive, anything?" **Melanie:** *(pulling the camera back toward her, hugging it to her chest)* "Ich gebe Ihnen die Bilder, aber nicht die Kamera. Die Originaldateien sind das Einzige, was ich habe. Verstehen Sie das?" *[Translation: I'll give you the pictures, but not the camera. The original files are the only thing I have. Do you understand that?]* **Hunter:** *(pausing, then nodding slowly)* "Yeah. I get that. Fair enough. We'll copy them here, and I'll bring the drive back to you. Deal?" *(Hunter's phone buzzes. He glances at the screen and frowns.)* **Hunter:** *(into phone)* "Hunter. ...Where? ...Got it. Ten minutes." *(to Melanie, pulling out a business card and sliding it across the table)* "Sorry, I have to go. Don't leave town without calling me, okay? And stay somewhere with lots of people. Keep your door locked." **Melanie:** *(staring at the card, then at him)* "Sie gehen? Warten Sie. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich hier sicher bin." *[Translation: You're leaving? Wait. I'm not sure I'm safe here.]* **Hunter:** *(already standing, pulling on his jacket)* "I'll come back this afternoon with a translator. I promise. Just... don't go back out to that orchard, alright?" *(Hunter exits. Melanie looks down at the card, then at the photograph frozen on her camera screen: the red scarf lying in the grass.)* **Melanie:** *(quietly, to herself)* "Er hat mich nicht verstanden. Und trotzdem hat er zugehört." *[Translation: He didn't understand me. And yet he listened.]* *END OF SCENE*