“You’re right!” Kate said. She stood up and started to head for the walkway. “It’s worth a try.”

Mike and Kate ran back through the stadium to the Kids’ Corner. The Birdman had just finished taking pictures of a little boy with Edgar when they arrived.

“Birdman?” Mike asked. “We had one more question for you. When you dropped off and picked up Edgar, did you happen to see anything or anyone unusual?”

The Birdman leaned back and thought for a little bit. “Hmmm,” he said. “I said hello to Judy the cashier at the gift shop when Ernie and I walked in. But we didn’t see anything strange near the stockroom.”

“Okay, thanks anyway,” Mike said. He turned to Kate. “We should go talk to Judy, in case she saw something.”

“And Ernie, too,” Kate added.

“Foul ball!” Edgar squawked.

Mike leaned over to Edgar. “I know you can talk, but I wish you could answer questions!” he said. “You must know who stole the glove because you were in the room when it happened! How about a little clue?”

The Birdman laughed. “I’m afraid Edgar can only repeat what he’s learned,” he said. “If he could have a real conversation, I’d be a millionaire!”

Kate laughed.

“Come on, Edgar! Did you see someone strange in the stockroom?” Mike asked. “Who broke into the safe?” He waited for an answer from Edgar, but the bird just glanced from Mike to the Birdman.

Mike shrugged. “I guess he didn’t see anyone,” he said. “Maybe he was sleeping. Or maybe he doesn’t want to talk!”

As Mike turned to walk back to Kate, Edgar gave a shrill whistle. Then he launched into “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” again.

Mike started bobbing his head and humming along. “Edgar’s telling us we need to head back to the ball game since we’re out of ideas,” he said. He hummed a few more seconds and then stopped. “Or maybe he’s giving us what I asked for. A clue!”

The Birdman stared at Mike. “What do you mean?” he asked. “How can Edgar be telling you a clue? What did he say?”

“It’s not what he said,” Mike said. “It’s what he whistled.”

Mike licked his lips and puckered up. As Kate and the Birdman listened, he whistled “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” “Edgar’s been whistling that all day,” he said. “You even said that today was the first time you had ever heard Edgar whistle that song!”

“That’s right,” the Birdman said. “I don’t know where he picked it up.”

“I do,” Mike said. “Because Kate and I have heard that song before. In fact, we heard it here yesterday.”

Kate nodded. “After the game,” she said. “When we were running the bases. The man who told us when to start had a phone that played ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’!”

“Bingo!” Mike said. “What if he’s the thief and his phone rang while he was in the stockroom stealing the glove? His phone would have played ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’! That’s how Edgar learned it. And he kept whistling it to tell us who the thief was!”

“I always knew Edgar was a smart bird,” the Birdman said.

“Now we just have to find the man with the phone,” Kate said. “But the Orioles don’t let kids run the bases again until next Sunday.”

“Do you know where he might be?” Mike asked the Birdman. “He had a big bushy beard. Any idea who he is?”

The Birdman thought for a moment. “You know, I’m not sure I do,” he said. “I’ve seen a man at one of the food stands with a big bushy beard, but I can’t remember which stand, and I’m not even sure it’s the same guy.”

“Okay, thanks,” Kate said. “Mike and I will start by checking out the food stands.”

The Birdman glanced over at the line that was forming for him and Edgar. “Good luck!” he said. “I have to get back to work.”

Mike and Kate ran to the main walkway around the stadium. Food stands stretched as far as they could see, interrupted only by souvenir shops and bathrooms.

“We’ll have to work fast,” Kate said.

“Normally, I’d love to stop at each food area,” Mike said. “But today I’d rather just go to one—the one where that guy works!”

They went from one food stand to another, stepping up to the counters and checking out the workers.

“This is going to take a while,” Mike said after they had stopped at their fourth food area. It was selling Mexican food. “I never realized how many food stands there are at a ballpark!”

Kate nodded. She watched as workers quickly made tacos and burritos for hungry fans. They all wore uniforms and baseball hats.

Kate grabbed Mike’s arm and pointed to the man behind the counter. “Hey, look at his hat!” she said.

The man’s hat had a green and a red chili pepper on it.

“This is a Mexican food stand and all the workers have hats with chili peppers on them,” Kate said. “When I saw that, it reminded me of the bushy-bearded man’s hat from yesterday. It had a big crab on it! He must work at a crab stand, so we don’t need to check all the food stands, just ones that sell crabs!”

“Good work,” Mike said. He gave Kate a high five. “Let’s go!”

Mike and Kate followed the walkway around the stadium, stopping to check out each food stand.

“Look,” Mike said, pointing to a gourmet hot dog stand. “Crab mac-and-cheese hot dogs!” He and Kate ran over to get a closer look at the workers behind the counter. But they were all wearing baseball hats with hot dogs on them.

“This isn’t the place,” Kate said.

“Nope,” Mike agreed. He pointed to a potato chip stand across the walkway. “What about that place?”

He and Kate ran over and studied the menu board. “Crab chippers. What are they?” Kate asked the server.

“Delicious!” the server said with a smile. Her baseball cap had a brown potato on it. “It’s a big pile of freshly made potato chips covered with cheese and crab meat! Want to try some?”

Mike took a step back. “Oh, no thanks,” he said. “Maybe later!” He tugged Kate’s shirt and started to walk away from the stand.

Kate reached over to feel Mike’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked. “I’m not sure I’ve seen you turn down free food before!”

“We’ve got a job to do!” he said. “No time for food right now.”

As Mike and Kate reached the next food stand, Kate noticed it was the first one they had stopped at. “We’ve gone in a big circle!” she said. “That means the crab man must be on the upper level!”

“I know we need to find the glove, but I’m tired of crabs!” Mike said. “Crab cakes, crab rolls, crab mac-and-cheese, crab hot dogs, crab pretzels, crab dip waffle fries, crab chippers! Crab and more crab! It’s enough to make me crabby!”

“You don’t need any foods to do that, Mike,” Kate joked. “You’re always crabby! Quick, let’s take the escalators to the upper deck.”

On the next level, they passed by food stands staffed by people wearing baseball hats with images of potatoes, hot dogs, chili peppers, ice cream cones, and more. But no crab hats.

As they were nearing the end of the upper deck, a huge cheer sounded from the crowd in the stadium.

Mike stopped. He pointed to one of the hallways leading to the seating area. “Hang on,” he said. “I want to see what happened. Maybe Flaps is doing better!”

“Okay,” Kate said.

As Mike turned to walk down the hallway, Kate reached out and stopped him. “Wait!” she said. She pointed to an area just beyond the next stairway. “There’s the crab guy!”