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 therewith 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.
“Mike! You’d better shut that window,” Mrs. Hopkins said. “Look at the mess you’re making!”
“That’s exactly what the ghost felt like!” Bud said.
Mike and Kate laughed. Mike closed the window and took one last look at the stadium. On the field, men and woman in blue shirts were raking the infield dirt and removing the white bases. He swiveled back to face the room.
“Sammy seemed nice,” Kate said. “He even gave away that ball he caught. It’s too bad he was sneaking in without paying.”
“He is a good kid,” the chief said. “He’s been working here with his dad, and people like him a lot. But he made a bad decision about using the key to sneak in.”
“Why didn’t he just buy tickets?” Mrs. Hopkins asked.
“He loves the Yankees, but didn’t want to spend money on tickets. He’s trying to save for college,” the chief said. “He was working with his father during school vacations and the summer to earn extra money.”
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