The announcer paused.

The fans clapped and cheered for their favorite sides.

“Which team?” Mike yelled.

“METS! METS! METS!” chanted the fans in the first row of seats.

“Who won the free tickets?” Kate asked.

The announcer held up his hand. “The winner of the hot-dog-eating contest will be rooting for the METS and the YANKEES!” he called. “This year we have a TIE!”

“What?” Kate and Mike asked at the same time.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” the announcer said. “We have a first! It’s a tie! One person on both the Mets and Yankees sides ate nine hot dogs! That means we’ll split up the four tickets. Each person who ate nine hot dogs will get two box seats for the Subway Series games. Congratulations!”

A man on the Yankees side and a woman from the Mets side held up their hands in victory. The crowd cheered as they waved.

“A tie? Are you kidding me?” Kate said. “There are no ties in baseball!”

Mike shook his head. “Well, except for that one all-star game in 2002,” he said. “And I think there was another tie in 1961….”

“Not today!” Kate said. “I know how to break that tie. I’m challenging you to our own hot-dog-eating contest. Mike versus Kate. We’ll see who can eat the most!”

Mike laughed. “You know me—I’m always hungry,” he said. “Hungry for hot dogs. And hungry to win a contest!”

“We’ll see about that,” Kate said. She gave Mike’s shirt a tug. “Let’s go get some hot dogs. Then we can go find my mom after the game. She’s interviewing people for her book on Subway Series heroes.”

Mike followed Kate as she ran off the field. Behind them, the batboys and batgirls carried the hot-dog tables away. The Brooklyn Cyclones warmed up on the sidelines, waiting to take their turn at bat.

The main walkway was crowded with people heading back to their seats. At the top of the stairs, Kate stopped to look for the nearest food stand. She spotted one to their right. But before she could head for it, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Kate whirled around.

It was a hot-dog vendor! The woman had a big box of hot dogs on a strap around her neck. “Ah! Just the two I was looking for!” she said. “I saw you helping with the contest. You did a great job.”

“Thanks!” Mike said. “It was fun.”

She pulled out two hot dogs and wrapped them in napkins. “Here are some hot dogs for helping,” she said. She handed one to Mike and one to Kate. She also gave them some mustard and relish packets.

“Enjoy!” She waved goodbye and walked away.

Mike ripped open the foil package. “How cool is that?” he asked. “Free food for doing a good job!” He squeezed mustard and relish onto his hot dog.

As Kate started to unwrap her hot dog, she noticed some black marks on the napkin. When she looked closer, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a message on her napkin!

“Mike! Look at this!” she said.

“Grrmph!” he sputtered. Mike had just taken a bite.

Kate read aloud:

“Whoa! What does that mean?” Mike asked.

“I don’t know!” Kate said. “We’ve got to find that hot-dog lady!” She scanned the walkway. “There she is! Quick!”

They took off running. When they caught up to the hot-dog vendor, she was about to head into a stockroom. “Hey! Excuse me!” Kate said.

The woman turned around. “Oh! It’s you two,” she said.

Kate waved the napkin in front of her. “Where did you get this napkin? Who gave it to you?” she asked.

The woman shrugged. “A guy in a Mets jersey,” she said. “He paid for two hot dogs at the start of the game, but he asked me to wait and give them to you with the note after the contest. He said he had to get back to the stadium, but he wanted to leave them for you.”

“What did he look like?” Kate asked. “What was his name?”

“He didn’t say,” she said as she opened the door to the stockroom. “He was average size, dark hair. He was wearing sunglasses. He also had a silver watch with a blue and white band. But there was one strange thing about him. He had a blue Mets jersey on, but he was wearing a Yankees baseball hat! That’s all I know! I gotta go now! Bye!”

“But we need to find him!” Kate said.