Billy Carrera looked her up and down, shaking his head, and sank back into his chair. He wore a suit jacket over his usual shirt, a celluloid collar curling from the heat. “Well, you surprised us all, I’ll give you that, Pin. Vivian, I mean.”

“Pin,” she said under her breath. She glanced at Miss Kingsley, who had returned her attention to a stack of papers. “I prefer Pin.”

“Well, that was quite a story, whatever your name is.” Billy Carrera shook his head again, as though still not quite believing it. “Lionel helped me track you down. Almost got him in a lot of trouble, that notebook of his. He remembered the name of the policeman he talked to at the park, and when I told him I wanted to see you, he went to Riverview and spoke to Mr. Bacon and found out where you go to school. So here I am.”

Pin bunched up her skirt, then smoothed it out again. She smiled nervously, uncertain what to say. It was impossible to know how to act now, especially around grown-up men.

“We miss you hanging around the studio,” Carrera went on after a moment. “So I came to ask you, how would you like a job there?”

“A job?”

He nodded. “As a joiner—your pal Glory Swanson said she thought you’d be interested. What do you think?”

Pin bit her lip, trying to hide her disappointment. Why a joiner? Why not an assistant to Billy himself, or one of the other cameramen, out on the studio floor? When she said nothing, Carrera continued.

“That would be to start. We use a lot of girls, you know that. If you did it for a while, and you liked it—if you’re good at it—then maybe you could be a cutter. There’s some girls in the cutting room, along with the fellas. I’m thinking you could work maybe two, three days a week after school. Saturdays if you want. If it’s okay with your mother,” he added. “You’re fourteen?”

She nodded.

“Well, that’s young, most of the girls are sixteen. But I can vouch for you. I know you’re a quick study, I’ve seen that. So if you want to think about it—”

“No, I’ll do it,” she broke in. “I can start now.”

Carrera laughed. “Why don’t we wait till Monday? That way I can tell the girls in the office and we can get you all set up.”

He picked up his hat and stood, extending his hand. Pin took it and they shook. “Thanks,” she said, and smiled again gratefully.

“One more thing.” He dipped his hand into a pocket, withdrew an envelope, and handed it to her. “Glory asked me to give you this. She’s gone out to California with her mother, to the Niles studio. Her and Wally Beery seem to be an item.”

“Glory?”