THE drum is missing?” Rachel asked.

“It’s all my fault!” Alyssa blurted out. She started crying. “I put it in the closet upstairs and someone stole it!”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like your fault,” said Rachel. But Alyssa kept crying.

“It’s such a special drum,” Alyssa said through her tears. “It was handmade in the Dominican Republic! It makes the most beautiful music, and we need it for the parade! Oh, I’m so sorry, Tía. I didn’t mean to,” Alyssa cried. She calls Maestra Soto tía because that means “aunt” in Spanish.

“It’s okay,” Maestra told her. “It’s not your fault. I know we’ll find it.”

“I’m so sorry to hear this,” Rachel said.

“The truth is,” Maestra explained, “that drum does create a beautiful sound. The parade organizers told me it is part of the reason why we were chosen to perform. Without it, I’m afraid we may not be able to do our dance routine the way they wanted it.”

Shakira and Sophia and I looked at one another with fear. Did this mean we might not get to be in the parade?

“Oh, no,” said Rachel. “That would be awful. And you all have worked so hard—you are such a wonderful addition to this year’s parade. Hmm. Maybe I can help …”

“Help? Really? But how?” asked Alyssa. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

“I’m going to talk about the missing tambora drum in my news report. Can you show me a picture of it?”

“Sure!” said Maestra, perking up. “David, honey, pass me my phone, please.” He did, and Maestra showed Rachel a picture of the drum on her phone.

“My grandfather, my abuelo, was a drum maker in the town of San Pedro,” Maestra explained. “He worked on this tambora so long and hard, everyone said it made the most beautiful music. More beautiful than any tambora they’d ever heard. Look here, see, it’s dark brown, with tan ropes on the side and a tan rawhide skin on top where you hit it. It also has a special flower painted on the side with the Dominican flag. My grandfather said that was for good luck.”

“It’s beautiful,” Rachel said. “I’m going to show this picture on the news. Hopefully someone recognizes it and can tell us where it is.”

“That would be wonderful!” said Maestra.

I was so excited to hear that a real reporter would try to help us find the tambora. But still, I thought, we needed to do more than just show the picture on TV. I looked at Shakira, Sophia, and Javier.

“We have to get that tambora back,” I said quietly.

“Yeah,” said Sophia. “I think that reporter is going to need some help. And I think we can help her!”

“You mean with ‘Emma Is On the Air’?” Shakira asked.

“Yup, yup!” I answered with a smile.

“Let’s start now!” Javier said.

Javier was right. We had to start right away. So I took off. “Ms. Cheng … Ms. Cheng …” I called as I ran over to her on the other side of the studio.

“Hi there. Emma, right? You can call me Rachel,” she answered.

“Okay. Rachel, can I tell you something?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“Well, I’m so glad that you’re going to help us find the tambora,” I told her. “We’ve worked so hard to be in the parade, and we’d be so disappointed if our performance was canceled.”

“Of course. I understand. I hope we’re able to find the drum for you.”

“That’s the thing,” I went on. “I was thinking maybe I could help? Rachel, I’m actually a reporter, too. I have my own news show.”

“Is that right?” Rachel sounded like she was impressed. “That’s fantastic. I’d love to see it sometime.”

“Yeah, I’m actually pretty famous. I solve cases at school, and I help people all the time. The truth is, I’m actually very famous.”

“I see,” Rachel said with a chuckle. Although I wasn’t sure what was so funny. She saw the confused look on my face and said, “Yes, I can see how that would make you famous. Emma, I can use all the help I can get. Here’s my business card.” She handed me a small white card that had her name, phone number, and email address on it. “Call me or email me if you figure anything out. We need to work together to find this drum.”

“I will! Thanks!”

Rachel walked back over to Maestra Soto and shook her hand before she and Christian the video photographer left.

I ran to tell the guys we were officially on the case. Luckily, I had my camera phone and microphone already in my backpack, ready to go. Even though I hadn’t worked on my show in a while, I always kept my reporter equipment in my bag. You never know when a reporting emergency will pop up!

“Okay, guys, step one,” I said to Sophia, Javier, and Shakira. “We need to interview witnesses! Who should we interview first?”

“Ooh, I know!” said Shakira. “We should interview Alyssa, right? She’s the one who lost the drum.”

“Yup! Nice answer, Shakira. First we talk to Alyssa,” I agreed. “Shakira, I’m glad you’re helping with this investigation. We could use another member of our news team.”

“Thanks, Emma,” Shakira answered. She looked proud. “Come on, let’s go talk to Alyssa before she leaves.” Off we went—as a team of four.