The Pinstripe Ghost (6 page)

“It would feel like a ghost!” Mike said.
“But why would that happen? Do you think the subway next to the stadium is doing it somehow?”

“No, but what if the other end of that vent was outside? It’s still spring, so it’s colder outside the stadium,” Kate said. “Maybe someone opened up the other end of the vent. That would let in a rush of cold air all at once, like a ghost!”

“So that’s why Bud always feels the chill and
then
hears the noise,” Mike said. “But who is opening the air-conditioning vent?”

“I’m not sure. But there’s one way to find out,” Kate said. “Let’s get here early before tomorrow’s game. I think I know how to solve the mystery!”

The Red Stain

In the morning, Kate and Mike could hardly wait to get to the ballpark. They sat impatiently through a late breakfast. They fidgeted while Mrs. Hopkins talked to her boss on the phone. Finally, they left the hotel. The game started at one o’clock.

When they got to the ballpark it was noon. Kate was nervous. What if they missed their chance?

“I’ll see you later,” Mrs. Hopkins said.
“Enjoy the game. If you need me, I’ll be in the pressroom.” She turned and walked to the elevator.

“Mike, hurry!” Kate said. “Race you to the hot dog stand!”

She tagged Mike and took off. They tore down the stairs and past crowds of fans going to their seats. Kate touched the counter of the hot dog stand seconds before her cousin.

“Beat you,” Kate panted.

“No fair,” Mike said. “You had a head start.” He bent over to catch his breath. “I’m thirsty. Wait up while I get a PowerPunch.”

A long line of customers snaked back from the stand. Bud was working quickly to keep up with the orders for hot dogs, pretzels, and sodas.

“Skip the drink,” Kate said to Mike. “There’s no time to waste.”

“Okay,” Mike said. “But you owe me one.”

They slipped past the customers and into the service hallway. Near the end, Mike and Kate crouched behind the large black trash cart. No one could see them there. And it gave them a perfect view of the storeroom.

But after fifteen minutes, Mike started rubbing his legs. “I’m getting sore,” he said. “Can we stand up for a minute?”

“No, we need to stay hidden,” whispered Kate. “It’s a good thing you’re not a catcher. You wouldn’t last more than a few batters!”

Kate peeked around the edge of the trash cart. Suddenly, she grabbed Mike’s arm. “It’s him! It’s him! Here comes Mr. Williams,” she hissed.

Mr. Williams was walking toward them with big strides. His eyes darted from side to side.

“He saw us!” Mike whispered. “What do we do now?”

“Shh!” Kate said. “He didn’t see us.”

Just before the storage room, Mr. Williams stopped and looked around. He opened the metal door and stepped inside.

“I knew he had something to do with this!” Mike cried.

“Shh!” Kate said again.

A few minutes passed. Then the door swung open. Mr. Williams came out of the storage room carrying a large brown cardboard box. The side of the box read
BOOKS
. He continued down the hall.

Mike sighed and slumped against the wall. “He’s just getting his books,” he said.

“The books are his cover,” Kate answered. “I’ll bet he goes in there and opens that vent. Then he sets something up to make that noise after he leaves. Maybe he calls someone to open the vent outside and let in cold air. It’s the perfect excuse!”

A few more minutes ticked by. The crowd near the hot dog stand thinned out.

“Do you think the ghost is going to show up today?” asked Mike. “It’s getting close to game time.”

“He’ll be here,” Kate said.

They waited and watched. Kate checked the time.

“This is boring,” Mike groaned. He fidgeted with his baseball.

Just then, they heard the ghostly sound. It came from right near them!

KRRRRTT. SWWWWSSSSH. KRRRRTT
.

“Babe Ruth’s ghost!” Mike whispered.

“Shh,” Kate hushed him a third time. The sound ended. “Now, let’s see if Mr. Williams comes back. He’ll need to undo whatever made the ghostly sounds.”

Nothing more happened. No sounds. No Mr. Williams. Maybe their theory wasn’t right.

“He’s not coming, Kate,” Mike said.

Mike was about to stand up when the door to the storeroom cracked open. After a few seconds, Sammy and his friends came out.

Sammy was wearing the same Yankees
pin-striped jersey from the day before. But the bottom front edge was stained a bright cherry red. Behind them, the door slammed shut. Sammy and his friends joined the crowd in the main hallway.

Mike laughed. “I guess I’m not the only clumsy one around!” he said. “Sammy spilled something all over his jersey.”

Kate jumped up. “Mike—that’s it! The PowerPunch!”

“The PowerPunch?” Mike asked. “What’s PowerPunch got to do with anything?”

“Not just any PowerPunch,” Kate said.
“Your
PowerPunch! Remember when you spilled it in the vent yesterday?”

“Yeah, so what?” Mike asked.

Kate stamped her foot. “Don’t you see?” she said. She got frustrated when her cousin didn’t keep up with her thinking.
“You
spilled the PowerPunch in the vent yesterday. I’ll bet some of it was still there today, since we didn’t clean it up. I’ll bet the red stain on Sammy’s shirt came from your spilled PowerPunch!”

“You think he crawled through the vent? And his shirt dragged through the PowerPunch?” asked Mike. “Why would Sammy be climbing through the vent?”

“Because he and his friends are sneaking into the stadium!” Kate said. “It all fits. It’s
not
Mr. Williams! The air-conditioning duct must start somewhere outside the stadium. Probably near a flower bed or park. That’s why we saw the dirt and wood chips on the floor of the storeroom. It came from their sneakers!”

“That means the ghost sounds that we heard were actually Sammy and his friends crawling through the ducts,” Mike said.

“Yes,” Kate said. “Sammy and his friends are the ghosts!”

Babe Ruth’s Ghost

Kate sprang up and pulled the door to the storeroom open. She clicked on the light. The room was empty.

“Hey, look at that,” Mike said. He pointed to the fresh bits of dirt leading from the back wall to the door.

“What are you kids doing in here?” asked a deep voice.

Mike and Kate whirled around. “Mr. Williams!” they said.

“Didn’t I tell you two to leave the ghosts to me?” Mr. Williams asked.

“But …,” Mike started. “We were—”

“Never mind,” Mr. Williams said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“You have?” Mike asked. “Why?”

“Bud told me you were still hunting for ghosts,” Mr. Williams said. He frowned. His eyebrows drew together in a dark line.

“Yes, we were,” Kate said. “But we just figured out who the ghost is!”

Mr. Williams’s eyes opened wide. “You did?” he asked.

Kate explained quickly what they had seen.

Mr. Williams rubbed his mustache. “Of course!” he said. “That’s why the ghost stories here were confusing. This is important information you’ve found out. We should tell security.”

Mike looked at his feet. “I don’t want to get Sammy in trouble,” he said. “But I guess you’re right.”

Mr. Williams led them to the stadium’s security office. There, for the second time, Mike and Kate explained the mystery of the ghost.

“You two are real ghost hunters,” the security chief said. “But we’ll take it from here. Why don’t you go enjoy the game? I’ll meet you in the pressroom afterward and give you an update.”

Mike and Kate went to their seats. The Yankees were behind by two runs. With all the excitement, the cousins found it hard to concentrate on the game. But they cheered along with the other fans when the Yankees hit three home runs to come back and win.

After the game ended, Mike and Kate went to the pressroom. The security chief was there
with Kate’s mom, Bud, and Mr. Williams. Most of the reporters and photographers had already left. Mike and Kate sat down in two dark blue chairs near the front windows.

“What happened?” asked Mike.

“After you told us about the ghost, our ushers found Sammy and his friends,” the chief said. “We brought them to the security office and called their parents. They admitted to sneaking into Yankee Stadium through the air vent.”

Mike swiveled around in his chair and nodded at Kate.

“I knew it,” Kate said. “Once I saw Sammy with the punch on his shirt, I knew it had to be him.”

“How were they getting into the vent?” Mr. Williams asked. “Aren’t the vents usually covered?”

The chief held up a small, shiny gold object. Kate leaned forward to get a good look at it.

“Sammy’s father has keys to all of our air-conditioning systems,” the chief said. “Sammy took this one. He used it to unlock a special access closet on the outside of the stadium. It’s right behind the bushes near the parking garage. The boys climbed into the vent there. We’re going to give it back to his father.”

“That’s where the dirt and wood chips were coming from,” Mike said.

Just as Mike and Kate had figured out, the ghostly events were caused by Sammy. The chief said that since it was spring, the air-conditioning wasn’t on yet, so Sammy wasn’t in any danger. But when he opened the outside vent cover, the cold spring air came rushing in all at once.

“Like this?” Mike asked. He spun his chair around and reached for the handle of one of the big pressroom windows. With a small nudge, he slid the window open. A rush of cool air blew into the room. It swept stray scraps of paper from the nearby desks.