Tina stood and began walking around the large room slowly. She stared off as her mind worked. "Has she ever been in a movie with the same people more than once?"

"A couple of times. I’ve already checked on that. I know what you’re thinking. Maybe she’s formed some type of friendship with her co-stars. They might know how to find her."

Tina nodded and then asked, "Nothing?"

"Not yet. They remember her, but they don’t even know her real name."

Tina thought more. Knowing there was something there. She was just missing it. She thought of what it was like on a movie set. All the people moving around, working on something. Like a circus almost. So many people. She stopped in her tracks. "What about the crew? Not the other actors. The crew."

Richard and Bette looked to Tina in silence. Faye smiled as Richard spoke. "The crew? You mean like the grips and gaffers and all that? They’re not even listed in the credits. These are pretty low-scale productions. Not the big Hollywood sets you’re used to."

"Maybe not, but every movie needs a crew. It might just be five people, but it’s still a crew", Tina said, her adrenaline kicking in, knowing she was onto something.

"Even so, no one except for the actors and director are credited. Maybe a writer here or there. At least in the ones we’ve found so far."

There was something familiar about this, knocking it’s way around inside Tina’s mind. Hadn’t she seen something like this in a movie? Not this exactly. But a way of getting to somebody. In the most innocuous way. For some reason her mind flashed on a scene from a movie. A train station. A baby carriage. Men with guns. A smile rose to her face as she made the connection. She looked at him clearly and spoke simply. "Have you checked the payroll?"

A smile came to Bette’s lips as she read Tina’s mind. Faye looked at Richard’s stunned face. "What is it, Richard?"

"Damn it!!", he shouted. Tina saw that Richard knew where she was headed. She also recognized that he was very upset with himself for not thinking of it first.

"Faye, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner."

"Will somebody explain to me what is going on, please?", Faye asked. She allowed a hint of exhilaration into her tone. Anything to get Richard this animated must have promise.

"Faye", Tina explained. "The government, or sometimes just a prosecuting attorney trying to make a name for himself, will occasionally try to crack down on these…um, rogue film makers I guess we’ll call them. They can’t get them on the first amendment though. So they try to go through the back door. Just like they got Al Capone. Tax evasion."

Faye’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. Tina continued. "These movie makers know this. They probably keep meticulous accounting records. Just in case. That means a complete payroll. Full names and social security numbers of everybody they pay. Actors. Writers. Cameramen. Grips. Even the janitor. Everybody."

The silence in the air was palpable, with everybody realizing the magnitude of this development. Richard walked to Faye and kneeled down to meet her eyes. "Faye. This just blew wide open. We probably won’t get any concrete information on Cora directly because she’s likely using fake ID. But, once we get those payroll records we’ll have so many more possible leads. Dozens more."

Bette walked to Tina, put her arm around her waist, and proclaimed proudly to all those present, "She’s with me".

Faye chuckled and for the first time since meeting with Bette and Tina, was filled with a genuine sense of hope. Hope that she would see her daughter again.  This hope filled her with a little bit of her old spirit. "Ok, Richard. Get me those payroll records. I’m not paying you to stand around and look handsome." 

"Yes ma’am", he said dutifully, hiding his smile.

TBC