Rocco Sampson stared at Mike.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rocco said.
“Yes, you do,” Kate said. “You stole my mother’s notes from the press box two days ago. And you’re the one who painted the Home Run Apple with Yankees pinstripes. You even told us that you knew the stadium would be empty the night before the first game. I’ll bet you snuck in and painted it yourself!”
“And you’re probably the one who hacked into the scoreboard with all those videos of Mr. Met,” Mike said.
Rocco leaned back against the chair in front of the scoreboard controls. “You can’t prove any of that,” he said.
“Actually, we do have proof,” Mike said. “We heard you talking on the phone last night in Grand Central. You said that you set up a special surprise for the third inning!”
“And we can prove another important thing,” Kate said. She borrowed Mike’s phone and pulled up the picture of the visitors’ log from Yankee Stadium.
“You’re a Yankees fan!” Kate said. “You were there interviewing for a job yesterday. You’re pulling all these pranks on the Mets because you’re a Yankees fan.”
Rocco stared at the picture and the pile of stolen papers that Mike was holding. Then he pulled out the chair and dropped into it. He let out a long sigh.
“You’re right,” he said softly. “I did steal your mom’s notes, along with other stuff from the press box. And I did all those other things, too.”
“But why?” Mike asked.
Rocco shrugged. “Just because I work for the Mets doesn’t mean I like the Mets,” he said. “I’ve always loved the Yankees, but I couldn’t get a job with them. So I settled for a job with the Mets. But I kept applying to work with the Yankees. I knew they were going to hire me this time, so I wanted to pull some pranks on the Mets before I left. It was the perfect opportunity for a Yankees fan!”
“But why did you steal my mom’s notes?” Kate asked. “What does she have to do with this?”
“Nothing,” Rocco said. “I just broke into the press box to confuse the investigators. I didn’t want to steal anything valuable. I figured I would take a few books or notebooks and make it seem like whoever painted the apple also tried to rob the place. That would throw suspicion off me.”
Kate crossed her arms and stared at Rocco. “Well, that was a bad idea,” she said. “You stole from the wrong person. Mike and I can figure out any mystery. Especially when it’s my mom who’s missing something!”
Mike and Kate tracked down Emma at the Mets’ security office. They told her the whole story. Emma thanked them for being so clever and set out to find Rocco and investigate.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t pull any more pranks on the Mets,” Emma said as they left. “Or steal anything else!”
Mike and Kate returned to their seats to watch the rest of the game with Mr. Hopkins and told him everything. The fifth inning was over, and the Mets had pulled ahead by three runs. The Yankees couldn’t find the magic they had the night before. By the time the ninth inning rolled around, the Mets were ahead by two. Although the Yankees got two runners on base, the next two batters struck out. Mike and the other Yankees fans in the stadium cheered loudly for Scooter Boyd when he stepped to the plate with two outs and two runners on base.
But he lofted a weak pop fly on his first bat. The Mets shortstop caught it, and the game was over. The Mets had won the third Subway Series game, and they also won the series, two games to one! The fans exploded with cheers and shouts. Kate and Mr. Hopkins high-fived. “Way to go, Miracle Mets!” Kate said.
Mike shrugged and waved his hand. “Don’t get too excited,” he said. “It’s just one series. I’m sure the Yankees will win next time! After all, they have a pretty good record.”
When the fans thinned out, Mike, Kate, and Mr. Hopkins went to the press box to meet Mrs. Hopkins.
When they spotted her, Mike and Kate ran over, gave her the notebook pages they had found under Rocco Sampson’s desk, and explained how they had caught him. Mrs. Hopkins was speechless. She gave both of them a big hug!
“I can’t believe you caught the thief by overhearing him at the Whispering Gallery at Grand Central!” Mrs. Hopkins said. She shuffled through the notebook pages. “Thank you so much for finding my notes! Now I’ll be able to finish my book on time.”
When Mrs. Hopkins was done working, the four of them left the stadium and took the number 7 subway train back to Grand Central Terminal. Kate’s parents led Kate and Mike through the passageways until they emerged onto Forty-Second Street.
“Well, I’ve got to head back to Los Angeles tomorrow,” Mr. Hopkins said. “And the three of you have to get back to Cooperstown. But we have one more night together in New York City. Who’d like to go up in the Empire State Building?”
Mike raised his hand and jumped up and down. “I would, Uncle Steve!” he said.
“Ooh! I would, too!” Kate said. “But I want to be the Statue of Liberty first!”
Mr. Hopkins looked at his watch. “I’m afraid we don’t really have time to see the Statue of Liberty on this trip,” he said. “Maybe next time.”
“No!” Kate said. “I don’t want to see the Statue of Liberty—I want to be it!”
Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins looked at Kate. “Are you feeling okay, Kate?” her mom asked. “Maybe we’ve seen too many baseball games.”
Kate smiled. She pointed to a booth across the street. The sign on the front read:
BE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!
COME TRY THE NEW YORK PHOTO EXPERIENCE.
TAKE HOME A PICTURE OF YOU AS YOUR FAVORITE NEW YORK SIGHT!
Mr. Hopkins laughed. “Okay, we have time for that before the Empire State Building,” he said.
The photo booth had all types of special costumes and props so that visitors could take New York–themed pictures of themselves as souvenirs. A few minutes later, Kate had pulled on a green robe and put a large spiked foam crown on her head. She had a stone tablet in one hand and held a torch up high in her other, just like the Statue of Liberty.
But before the woman at the photo booth could snap a picture, Mike jumped in front of the camera. “Hang on!” he said. “I’ve got a better idea!”
Mike ran over to the shelves stocked with different photo props and pulled out a baseball glove. He ran back to Kate and swapped the baseball glove for her torch. Then he swapped out the tablet Kate was holding with the Subway Series program she had bought at the baseball game.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Kate asked as she looked at the baseball glove.
“Just hold it up like the torch,” Mike said. “You’ll see!”
Kate sighed. She cradled the Subway Series program in her left hand and held up the baseball glove instead of the Statue of Liberty’s torch with her right.
Just as the attendant was getting ready to snap the picture, Mike tossed his baseball up. The ball sailed in an arc in front of Kate.
SNAP!
The attendant took a picture.
THWUMP!
Mike’s ball landed right in Kate’s glove!
“Woohoo!” Mike cried. “That was the greatest New York City Subway Series catch of all time!”