WE didn’t have dance rehearsal after school that day, so we couldn’t interview Alyssa yet. Instead I went straight home and did my homework right away so I could think about the case and file another news report. I sat at my desk in my room and wrote in my purple reporter pad,
Clue #4: The anonymous source says Alyssa took the drum home.
As soon as Papi got home from work, I told him what happened. He had big news for me, too.
“I spoke to that reporter, Rachel Cheng, on the phone today. She received a phone call from a viewer who says he saw the tambora drum on the M4 bus the day it went missing. He thought it was odd to see a drum sitting on the seat by itself, so he took a picture of it with his cell phone. Rachel sent it to me. Take a look. Is that the drum?”
“That’s it!!” I screamed.
“Ow, Emma, not in my ear, please,” Papi said.
“Sorry, Papi. But that’s the missing drum! See, it has the flower painted on the side next to the flag of the Dominican Republic. We found it!”
“Not so fast,” said Papi. “The viewer said he pointed the drum out to the bus driver and then got off at the next stop. He doesn’t know what happened to it after that.”
“Papi,” I said, “I just thought of something. The anonymous source said the drum was at Alyssa’s house. How could the drum be on the bus and at Alyssa’s house?”
“That’s a great question,” Papi replied.
“I think we need to interview the bus driver. Come on, let’s go!” I shouted, running to get my camera phone.
“Hold on a minute, Emma. It’s too late now. You have school tomorrow. I’ll tell you what: I’ll pick you up from dance class after work tomorrow, and I will let you know if we are able to find the bus driver and talk to him. No guarantees. Deal?”
“Deal!”
I was getting so excited. I knew we would find the drum! I pulled out my purple reporter pad and wrote:
Clue #5: A viewer saw the drum on the M4 bus!
Then I hurried upstairs to file my next report. I explained everything we learned today.
“Tomorrow we’re going to crack this case when we talk to the bus driver! I mean if we can find the bus driver and ask him what happened. Keep your fingers crossed! Thanks for watching ‘Emma Is On the Air’!”
* * *
After school the next day, I met up with everyone at dance class and told them about what happened with Rachel Cheng and the bus driver. We decided to wait till after class to talk to Alyssa.
“There she is, in the corner,” Sophia pointed out after class ended. Alyssa was packing up her dance clothes.
“Great,” I answered. “Here, Sophia—you take the camera phone. And, Shakira, you can hold the microphone again, if you want to.”
“Thanks, Emma!” Shakira grabbed the Emma microphone. Then she pulled out her vanity again to look in the mirror, and we all heard it sing, “You look faaabulous.”
“Ugh! Do you have to look in that thing every two seconds?” Javier grumbled.
“Yes, I do!” Shakira insisted as she rolled her eyes at Javier. “Do you have to wear those silly night-vision goggles everywhere we go?”
“Yes, I do!” Javier spat back. “They’re important for finding clues! Besides … I think they help me dance better. You know … when everyone’s spinning around, I can see better.” Javier spun in place with his goggles on his head.
“You’re so weird, Javier,” Shakira said.
“Okay, relax, you guys,” Sophia chimed in. “Both of your toys are awesome. We have to interview Alyssa before she leaves. Let’s go.”
We all followed Sophia across the room.
“Hey, Alyssa,” I said.
“Hey,” she answered. She still sounded sad.
“So, we’ve made some progress in the case, and we’re getting really close to finding the tambora drum.”
“What?” she asked, sounding surprised. “But how?”
“Someone called Rachel Cheng and said he saw it sitting in a seat on the M4 bus,” Sophia answered.
Alyssa didn’t say anything. She looked nervous.
“Also, we interviewed a dancer from the upstairs class who says she never saw you put the drum in the upstairs closet,” added Shakira.
“Also,” Javier said, “we got a note from a witness who said she saw the drum at your house!”
Finally I said, “I have to ask, Alyssa, did you steal the tambora drum?”
Then Alyssa started to cry. We didn’t know what to do.
“Emma, it’s all my fault!” Alyssa was sniffling.
“It’s okay, just talk to us. Tell us what happened,” Sophia told her in a calm voice. Sophia was so kind to everyone.
“Okay, here’s what really happened,” Alyssa began. “The day before Rachel Cheng came to do the story on our dance group, I went to lock the drum up in the closet like I always do after class. But this time the closet was full. There were too many costumes in there. I was in a rush to get home, so I decided to just take the drum with me and bring it back for class the next day. I knew my tía wouldn’t be happy about that, so I didn’t tell her. I figured it would be fine—and it was fine. I took the drum home, and nothing went wrong.”
Alyssa looked down again, wiping her eyes. She was crying again, we could tell, but she took a deep breath and kept talking.
“The next day after school, I took the M4 bus to dance class. I had the drum on my lap. Then a bunch of my friends got on the bus, and we started talking. I wanted to show them my new cell phone case, and it was in my backpack. So I put the drum down on the seat next to me and got out my backpack to find my phone.”
Alyssa paused again and sighed.
“And then you forgot the drum,” I finished for her.
“Yes,” she answered. “I was so busy talking to my friends, I completely forgot I had the drum with me. I left it on the bus. I was so scared to tell my tía the truth, I made up the story about locking it in the upstairs closet. I’m so sorry. I wish I could just get that drum back!”
Suddenly my papi walked into the dance studio, interrupting our interview.
“Hi, guys—you ready to go talk to the bus driver?” Papi asked us.
“You found him?” I asked with a hopeful smile.
“You got lucky, kid,” Papi answered. “I have a friend who works for the Transit Authority. He’s my source.” Papi winked.
“Alyssa,” I said, turning back to her as she wiped away another tear, “come with us. We’re going to interview the bus driver and find the drum!”