BANG!

The door of the stockroom slammed shut. The hot-dog lady was gone.

Mike clapped his hands. “So, we just need to find the guy in the Mets jersey!” he said.

“Mike! Look around!” Kate said. She waved her arm at the fans streaming by them. “The Cyclones are a Mets farm team! Almost everyone here is wearing a Mets jersey!”

Mike turned and glanced at the fans nearby. Then he blushed and shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s good,” he said. “It gives us a lot of suspects to follow up on!”

Kate shook her head. “Are you kidding?” she asked. “We can’t solve a mystery if everyone is a suspect. We need to figure out who dropped that note off.”

Mike snapped his fingers. “What if it wasn’t a Mets fan?” he asked. “What if the sunglasses and jersey were just a disguise? He could be a Yankees fan.”

Kate nodded. “Maybe…,” she said. “But then who was he and why is he asking us to solve a mystery?”

Mike shrugged again. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think my brain needs some food!” He unwrapped the rest of his hot dog and took another bite. Kate did the same. “Mmm, mmm,” Mike said when he finished. “Free food always tastes good to me!”

“Kate! Mike!” a woman’s voice called.

Kate’s mom was running down the main hallway. She wore a blue baseball hat with a ponytail hanging out the back. She had a black messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

“I’m so glad I found you!” she said as she stopped in front of them. “I’ve been looking for the past ten minutes.”

“What’s up?” Kate asked. “The game’s not over.”

Kate’s mom nodded. “Something important came up,” she said. “We’ve got to get over to the Mets’ stadium early. Someone broke into the press box!”

“Oh no!” Kate said. “I hope your research wasn’t stolen!” Mrs. Hopkins had spent the morning working in the press box.

“Me too!” Kate’s mom said. “I have to finish my Subway Series book by next month. If my notes and interviews were stolen, I don’t know what I’ll do!”

Outside the stadium, Mrs. Hopkins flagged down a taxi. She asked the driver to hurry to the Mets’ ballpark. When they arrived, Mike and Kate hopped out as Mrs. Hopkins paid.

VOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Mike and Kate covered their ears and looked up. A large airplane streaked across the sky over the stadium.

Mrs. Hopkins stepped out of the car. “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” she said as the noise quieted down. “The Mets’ stadium is right near LaGuardia Airport! Planes fly over all the time.”

Mike watched the plane disappear into some puffy white clouds. “That reminds me,” he said to Kate. “Have you heard the joke about the airplane?”

Kate squiggled her eyebrows. “Nooo…,” she said.

Mike waved his hand. “Ah, well, don’t worry. It was over your head anyway!”

“Ha-ha,” Kate said. “Very funny.”

“Come on,” Mrs. Hopkins said. “We have got to check out the break-in.” She led them to the main entrance. Mrs. Hopkins showed the security guard her press pass. He waved them in.

They wound through the stadium, up to the press box. Inside were rows of tiered seats facing large windows overlooking the field. The reporters had a great view.

“Oh! I’m glad you’re here to examine your stuff, Laura,” said another reporter. He was wearing tan pants, a white shirt, and a Mets baseball cap. “We don’t know who broke in here or why, but the Mets security team is checking different areas in the stadium.”

The man motioned to a security guard taking pictures. “If anything of yours is missing, tell her,” he said. “That’s Emma. She’s leading the investigation. Nothing of mine is missing, but the thief took books and notes from the desks next to yours.”

“Thanks, Milo,” Mrs. Hopkins said. “I hope everything is okay. Mike and Kate, this is my friend Milo. He’s also a sports reporter. Watch out, though, because he works for a rival website. But he’s still a pretty good guy.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Milo said with a laugh. “She’s just jealous because sometimes I get the scoop on news stories before she does!”

Mike and Kate said hello to Milo, and then followed Mrs. Hopkins to her desk. A pile of baseball books sat on one side. Nearby were a notebook and a pen. Mrs. Hopkins picked up the notebook.

She studied it for a moment, and then dropped it on the desk.

“Oh no!” Mrs. Hopkins said. “It’s empty! Someone took my research notes!”