Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DYEQD5YPHV2HDVQ57W3HHA

**VOICE SHEET: "The Lantern Walk"** *Setting: The Crooked Spoon Café, Alborn, MN. Morning.* *Melanie speaks only German and Hunter speaks only English. Once they start talking, Hunter uses a translation app on his phone. German lines are followed by English translations in brackets.* --- **Hunter:** "Morning. Mind if I sit? Detective Hunter. I'm working the disappearances here in Alborn. You're the one with the camera, right? I need to ask you about Marta Lindqvist." **Melanie** *(troubled, voice unsteady):* "Frau Lindqvist...? Ja, ich kannte sie. Jeden Morgen hat sie hier am Fenster mit mir Deutsch gesprochen. Sie war die Einzige in dieser Stadt, die meine Sprache verstand. Und jetzt ist sie verschwunden... Das kann doch nicht wahr sein." *[Mrs. Lindqvist...? Yes, I knew her. Every morning she spoke German with me right here at this window. She was the only one in this town who understood my language. And now she's gone... This can't be true.]* **Hunter** *(confused):* "Whoa. Slow down. I got 'Marta.' The rest of that was German?" **Melanie:** "Ja. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" *[Yes. Do you speak German?]* **Hunter:** "Do I speak German? No. Not even 'hello.' Do you speak English?" **Melanie:** "Nein. Nur Deutsch." *[No. Only German.]* **Hunter:** "Nine? ...Okay. Dutch?" **Melanie:** "Deutsch!" *[German!]* **Hunter:** "Dutch, German. Close enough." **Melanie:** "Nein, das ist nicht dasselbe. Bitte... ich brauche Hilfe." *[No, that's not the same. Please... I need help.]* **Hunter** *(softer):* "Yeah. I can hear that much. Hang on, phone's going to do the talking." **Hunter** *(into phone):* "You live here? Some kind of study program?" **Melanie:** "Ja. Ein Auslandssemester. Ich fotografiere Landschaften." *[Yes. A study-abroad semester. I photograph landscapes.]* **Hunter:** "Landscapes. Okay. Were you at the Apple Festival lantern walk Saturday night?" **Melanie:** "Ja. Ich war am Abend im Obstgarten und habe die Laternen fotografiert." *[Yes. That evening I was in the orchard, photographing the lanterns.]* **Hunter:** "Screen says you were in the orchard shooting the lanterns. Did you see Marta?" **Melanie:** "Ich habe sie auf dem Foto gesehen. Ich habe es erst heute bemerkt, als ich die Bilder vergrößert habe." *[I saw her in a photo. I only noticed it today, when I enlarged the pictures.]* **Hunter:** "A photo. Show me." **Melanie:** "Hier, schauen Sie. Acht Minuten vor Mitternacht. Dort, am Waldrand, steht ein weißer Lieferwagen. Und da ist Marta. Sie trägt ihren roten Schal. Ein Mann führt sie zum Wagen. Und er hat direkt in meine Richtung geschaut." *[Here, look. Eight minutes before midnight. There, at the edge of the woods, a white van. And there's Marta. She's wearing her red scarf. A man is leading her to the van. And he looked straight in my direction.]* **Hunter:** "Eleven fifty-two. Red scarf... The flyer said she was wearing a red scarf that night. That's her?" **Melanie:** "Ja. Das ist Marta." *[Yes. That's Marta.]* **Hunter:** "Can you see the man's face?" **Melanie:** "Nein. Die Kapuze war tief ins Gesicht gezogen. Aber an der linken Hand trug er einen großen, dunklen Ring." *[No. His hood was pulled deep over his face. But he wore a large, dark ring on his left hand.]* **Hunter** *(writing it down):* "Left hand. Big dark ring. What about the van? Plate?" **Melanie:** "Ich kann das Kennzeichen nicht lesen. Nur die letzten drei Zahlen: vier, sieben, eins." *[I can't read the plate. Only the last three numbers: four, seven, one.]* **Hunter:** "Four. Seven. One." *(writing)* "Numbers I can do. Corps taught me that much." **Melanie:** "Zahlen sind überall gleich, nicht wahr?" *[Numbers are the same everywhere, aren't they?]* **Hunter:** "Yeah. For once, we're on the same page." **Hunter** *(answering his phone, grim):* "Hunter. ...Say that again. ...White? ...Where? ...Okay. Nobody touches it. I'm ten minutes out." **Hunter** *(typing into the translation app):* "I've got to go. Read that. Stay in town. No orchard. An officer's coming to take your full statement." **Melanie:** "Moment! Ich habe noch mehr Fotos!" *[Hold on! I have more photos!]* **Hunter:** "Then send them to me." *(scribbling a number on a napkin)* "Here. Text, email, whatever you've got. And lock your door tonight." **Melanie:** "Ich schicke sie Ihnen. Heute noch." *[I'll send them to you. Today.]* **Melanie** *(calling after him as the door chime jingles):* "Warten Sie! Er hat direkt in meine Kamera gesehen!" *[Wait! He looked straight into my camera!]*