Run: 2026-10-09-01M4G0NT3ZDKRFDEE01M1J984H

**Scene: The Corner Cafe, Alborn, MN** *The bell above the door chimes. Marie sits alone at a table by the window, her camera in her lap. She has not touched her coffee in twenty minutes. Her thumb moves over the lens cap, again and again. Hunter crosses the room, notebook in hand, and stops at her table.* **Voice Sheet** **Hunter:** "Excuse me. Mind if I sit down? I'm Detective Hunter. I'm looking into what happened at the orchard road last Thursday. You were out there with that camera, weren't you? The waitress said you've been taking pictures all week." **Marie:** "Pardon, je ne comprends pas. Vous êtes... policier? Je... je ne sais pas quoi dire." *(Sorry, I don't understand. You're... a police officer? I... I don't know what to say.)* **Hunter:** "I'm going to need you to slow down. Did you see anything on Thursday? Anyone near the orchard road?" **Marie:** "Je suis désolée. Ce n'est pas... ce n'est pas possible. Il était là, et ensuite il n'était plus là. Je l'ai vu sur la photo. Regardez..." *(I'm sorry. It's not... it's not possible. He was there, and then he wasn't. I saw him in the photo. Look...)* **Hunter:** "Okay. Hey, take a breath. I can't follow you, but I can see you're rattled. Is that your camera? Can I see the picture?" **Marie:** "Il a levé la main. Juste là, près des pommiers. Et après, il a disparu. Comme si la terre l'avait avalé." *(He raised his hand. Right there, by the apple trees. And after, he vanished. As if the earth had swallowed him.)* **Hunter:** *(leaning in, squinting at the small screen)* "Right. So that's Thompson's barn, and that's... a man. Standing right where the fence line is. You know who he is?" **Marie:** "Je ne connais pas son nom. Je suis arrivée à Alborn il y a trois semaines. Je photographie les paysages, les champs, la lumière du matin. Je n'ai jamais voulu..." *(I don't know his name. I arrived in Alborn three weeks ago. I photograph landscapes, the fields, the morning light. I never meant to...)* **Hunter:** "Hey, nobody's blaming you. Look, I'm trying to find out where people are going. Three people in six weeks. You might be the only one who has a picture of one of them right before he's gone." **Marie:** *(quietly, looking down at her hands)* "Il avait l'air terrifié. Pas de quelqu'un qui le poursuivait. De quelque chose qui se trouvait... derrière lui." *(He looked terrified. Not of someone chasing him. Of something... behind him.)* **Hunter:** *(pausing, pen hovering over the notebook)* "Behind him. Okay. Anything else you remember? Vehicle, sound, anything?" **Marie:** "Je ne sais pas. Je suis désolée. Je veux juste rentrer chez moi." *(I don't know. I'm sorry. I just want to go home.)* **Hunter:** "I get that. Look, if you're going to keep that camera with you, don't go out past the orchard road alone, all right? And write down anything else you think of." *(His phone buzzes against the table. Hunter glances at the screen and his jaw tightens.)* **Hunter:** "I have to take this. Stay here, okay? Don't go back out there. I'll come find you." **Marie:** "Attendez... Monsieur, s'il vous plaît. Ne partez pas encore." *(Wait... Sir, please. Don't leave yet.)* **Hunter:** *(already standing, phone to his ear, pointing at the window and mouthing)* "Stay. Here." *(He strides out the door. Marie watches him go, then looks down at the camera and scrolls back through the photos until she finds the frame with the man by the fence. She stares at it, and the coffee on the table has long gone cold.)*