Mike and Kate stopped in their tracks and watched the videos. Yankees fans were cheering, and Mets fans were booing.

“Some Yankees fan must have hacked into the Mets’ scoreboard!” Mike said. “Boy, they’ll do anything to get the Mets!”

Mr. Hopkins shook his head. “That might rile up the fans, but it’s going to take more than a few silly videos to throw the Mets off tonight,” he said. “I know it’s their night to win!”

“Don’t be so sure of that, Mr. H,” Mike said. “The Yankees are the real winners in New York City! Check the World Series statistics!”

Mr. Hopkins smiled and gave Mike a fist bump. “We’ll see about that tonight!” he said.

A moment later, the videos stopped and the announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Sorry for the video problem,” he said. A picture of the Home Run Apple appeared on the screen. “We’ll be back to the game shortly!”

Kate tugged on Mike’s T-shirt. “See you in a little bit, Dad,” she said. “We’re going to check out the apple.”

Kate’s dad waved goodbye, and Mike and Kate bounded up the steps to the walkway. Mike followed Kate as they wound their way through the Mets’ stadium to the scoreboard operations room. Kate showed the security guard the business card and Rocco’s signature, and the guard waved them into a long hallway.

“It’s the second door on the left,” she said.

Just before they reached the door, Kate stopped Mike. “Remember, we have to find my mom’s notes,” she said. “If he took them, they might be in his office.”

Mike knocked softly on the white door labeled SCOREBOARD OPERATIONS. While he waited, he rolled his baseball from hand to hand. A moment later, Rocco opened the door.

“Hey! Hello again!” he said. “You just missed a home run! You could have watched me press the button. Come on in.”

Mike and Kate walked into the control room. It was filled with computer screens and TV monitors. Windows looked out onto the field and scoreboard. Two other people sat at the far end of the room behind keyboards, with headsets on.

“Mike and Kate, right?” Rocco asked.

Kate nodded. “Thanks for letting us stop by,” she said. “This is pretty neat.” She scanned the room and noticed a desk in the corner with a miniature Home Run Apple on it. Underneath the desk were piles of paper.

Rocco led them over to a control panel filled with lights and buttons. He pointed to a silver lock mounted on the panel. A key was inserted into the lock.

“There’s the control for the apple,” he said. “After we verify that the Mets have hit a home run, I use the key to turn that lock.” Rocco pointed to a nearby black switch. “Once the lock is turned, I flip open the cover of this switch. When I press the button underneath, the Home Run Apple pops up!”

“Cool!” Mike said. “Can I take a picture?”

“Sure,” Rocco said.

Mike handed Kate his baseball and took a picture of the lock and the switch. “I’d love to have a button like that so I could press it and have it do my homework!” he said.

“Is that all you can think of?” Kate asked as she handed the baseball back.

Mike paused for a moment. “No…,” he said. He rubbed his tummy. “I can also think of a button that I could press and have apple pie pop up from my kitchen counter. That would be nice!”

“Mmmm…,” Kate said. “I like apple pie, too. Maybe the button can deliver two slices!”

Rocco laughed. “We don’t have that kind of button here,” he said. “But it sounds tasty.” He walked toward another area of the room. “Here, let me show you how the scoreboard works.”

Mike started to follow him, but Kate nudged him with her elbow. She glanced at Rocco’s desk.

Mike followed her eyes. He gave her a thumbs-up and motioned for her to follow Rocco. As she walked behind Rocco, Mike rolled his baseball from hand to hand again. But as he transferred the ball, Mike let it slip. He gave it a little tip so it would roll toward Rocco’s desk.

BONK! The ball bounced across the floor, and then rolled to a stop under the desk.

“Sorry!” Mike said. “I’ll get it.”

Rocco brought Kate over to another set of computer screens. While he started to explain how they put the score up, Mike crawled under Rocco’s desk. He dug through the pile of papers on the floor. Underneath some old baseball magazines were printouts of the scores of baseball games. Finally, near the bottom, he spotted something different.

Kate was pointing at the scoreboard and asking Rocco questions. Mike reached down and pulled out a stack of notebook papers from the pile.

He glanced at the top page, grabbed his ball, and scrambled out from under the desk. He walked over to where Rocco was pointing at buttons on the control panel and then pointing to the scoreboard.

“Rocco?” Mike said. “I found my baseball under your desk. But I also found this.”

Mike held up the stack of notebook papers. The top page read PROPERTY OF LAURA HOPKINS.

“Why do you have my mom’s notes?” Kate asked.