Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DAAZ3FE4GHQA1ZK113PAWC

**Marie:** "Pardon, je... je ne comprends pas. Vous êtes qui?" *(Sorry, I don't understand. Who are you?)* **Hunter:** "Detective Hunter, Alborn Police Department. You're Marie Lambert? The study abroad student staying over at the inn on Fourth Street?" **Marie:** "Je ne parle pas anglais. S'il vous plaît, je ne sais pas ce que vous dites." *(I don't speak English. Please, I don't know what you're saying.)* **Hunter:** *(pauses, glances at the camera in her hands)* "Okay. Let's try this. You were out at Whitfield's orchard Thursday morning. Before the sheriff's cars showed up. Yeah?" **Marie:** *(her voice wavers, and she grips the camera strap)* "Le brouillard était si épais. J'ai pris des photos des arbres, comme chaque matin. Et là, il y avait une femme près du pressoir. Elle m'a regardée. Puis elle n'était plus là. Plus du tout." *(The fog was so thick. I took pictures of the trees, like every morning. And then there was a woman by the cider press. She looked at me. Then she was gone. Completely gone.)* **Hunter:** "Whoa, slow down. I got 'orchard' and 'woman,' that's about it. I need you to tell me what you saw." **Marie:** "Je ne peux pas... Mes mains tremblent encore. Regardez, regardez la photo." *(I can't... My hands are still shaking. Look, look at the photo.)* **Hunter:** *(leans in as she turns the camera screen toward him, squinting at the grainy image of white fog and dark apple trees)* "Is that... a shape? Hang on." *(He taps the screen, zooms in.)* "Okay, I see something by the press. Could be a person. Could be a fence post in the fog." **Marie:** *(tearfully, shaking her head)* "Non, non. Ce n'est pas un poteau. C'est elle. Elle avait la même robe que Caroline Ames, la femme qui a disparu la semaine dernière. Je l'ai vue sur l'affiche au café. Personne ne me croit." *(No, no. It's not a post. It's her. She was wearing the same dress as Caroline Ames, the woman who disappeared last week. I saw her poster at the café. Nobody believes me.)* **Hunter:** *(softening slightly, sitting down across from her)* "Caroline Ames. Yeah, I know that name. Look, I don't understand a word you're saying, but I can see you're scared, and I'm not going to brush that off. Okay? We'll figure this out. Can you get someone to translate for you? I mean, somebody who can sit with you when we talk again?" **Marie:** *(wiping her eyes, nodding slowly)* "Merci. Vous êtes gentil, même si vous ne comprenez rien." *(Thank you. You're kind, even if you don't understand anything.)* **Hunter:** "Yeah, I'm gonna take that as a thank you." *(His phone buzzes. He checks the screen, and his expression hardens.)* **Hunter:** "Hunter. ...Yeah. Where? ...Okay, I'm ten minutes out." *(He stands and turns back to Marie.)* "Don't go back out to that orchard alone, okay? Stay at the inn. Keep that camera safe. I'll come back for that photo, and we'll get it translated properly. Got it?" **Marie:** *(clutching the camera to her chest, whispering)* "Attendez... ne partez pas. Il y a quelqu'un d'autre. Je l'ai vu aussi, dans le reflet de l'objectif." *(Wait... don't leave. There's someone else. I saw them too, in the reflection of the lens.)* **Hunter:** "Sorry, I'm gonna need you to say that again in a language I speak. But hold that thought." *(He's already backing toward the door, phone pressed to his ear.)* "Stay put, Marie."