The next day, Joe and Josie were talking in Joe's office.
"I can't believe you're being investigated for dereliction of duty," Josie said.
"Don't worry about it, Josie."
"How can I help worrying?" Josie asked. "This is all my fault."
"How is it your fault, Josie? I'm the one who made the decision not to report you and Toni that time," Joe reminded her.
"But if I hadn't gone after the phone stalker yesterday..." Josie began.
"Stop right there, Josie," Joe said. "If you had known that Chip was setting you up, what would you have done?"
"I would have told you, and I wouldn't have gone after him."
"Exactly. Now, remember when you went to Quantico for training?" Joe asked
"Sure, I remember," Josie answered.
"And then they partnered you with Cameron, and warned you not to tell anyone."
Josie nodded her head.
"Including you. They said that if I told you, they'd ruin my career as a cop."
"And they knew he was Gary's brother, and they kept you in the dark about that," Joe went on.
"You didn't think much of that," Josie remembered.
"No, I didn't," said Joe. "If I had known that was how the Feds would treat you, I never would have let you go to Quantico."
"But you couldn't have known," Josie said.
"Exactly. And you couldn't have known that the phone stalker was Rayburn, and that it was all a trap."
"But when you let me go to Quantico, you weren't doing anything wrong," Josie said. "When I went to the docks by myself, I was disobeying orders."
"And that is the only thing you are responsible for, Josie."
"No, it isn't."
"What do you mean?" Joe asked.
Josie answered hesitantly, "I knew Rayburn was out of jail."
"How long have you known?"
"A few months," Josie said.
"Toni told you?"
"Yes, sir."
"She told me the whole story," Joe said, "but she didn't tell me that you knew."
"Am I in trouble for not telling you?"
"No," Joe said. "You're in enough trouble for disobeying orders and acting on your own."
"Have you decided on my punishment?"
"Yes," Joe said. "I want a thousand word report on the importance of obeying orders and not acting on your own. The report is to be handwritten, not typed. And while you are working on that report, I want you to do some serious thinking. It's for
your own good."
"How soon do you want it?" Josie asked.
"I'll give you a week," Joe said. "But it has to be perfect. No misspellings."
"Yes, sir," Josie said. "And thanks for.. letting me off so easily after the problems I've caused you. You know,
it seems like most of your problems on the job have been because of me."
"No, Josie. I'd have to say that most of my problems are caused by corrupt judges, a commissioner who is almost as big
a jerk as Raines was, and... the mayor."
####
The next morning, a large crate was delivered to the 2-3. Joe carried the crate into his office, and opened
it very carefully. Inside the crate were a computer and an envelope. Joe opened the envelope and examined
the contents.
"Well, if that's what she wants," he said to himself, walking into the squad room.
"Listen up, everybody!"
The officers in the room looked at Joe questioningly.
"What's up?" Josie asked.
"We've just received a very strange gift," said Joe.
"What's so strange about it?" Toni wanted to know.
"The strange thing is, the gift is in two parts," Joe answered. "There is a check for a thousand dollars made out to the PBA, but there is a catch."
"What's the catch?" Josie asked
"The check isn't signed."
"Well," said Adams, "I'm sure that was an oversight."
"No, it wasn't an oversight. The donor wrote that she will not sign the check
unless I agree that the other part of her gift will be used according to her instructions."
Toni asked, "Just what is the other part of the gift, and how does she want us to use it?"
"Let me read that part of the letter to you guys" Joe began to read. "The other part of my gift is a computer, which is not to be used for police work."
"Wait a minute," Josie interrupted. "She's donating a computer to the police department, but we can't use it for police work?"
"That's right," Joe answered. He went back to the letter. "It is to be used for recreational purposes only. I've taken the liberty of installing several games."
Adams shook his head in disbelief.
"She sent us something to play with?"
"That's right ,and unless I accept the computer, and agree to her conditions for its use, the PBA doesn't get the money."
"So what are you going to do?" Toni asked.
"I'm going to accept her conditions," Joe said," but I'm also going to lay down some ground rules."
"Like what?" asked Josie.
"You can only use it after your shifts are over."
"What about during our lunch and dinner breaks?" Josie asked.
Joe answered, "The keywords there are lunch and dinner."
"What do you really think about this deal?"
"Well," Joe said, "while the conditions are unusual, they are not unethical. So we've got a recreational computer, and the PBA has a thousand dollars."
####
That night, Josie and Gary were in bed, talking.
"Let me get this straight," Gary said. "Some rich, eccentric lady donated a thousand dollars to the PBA, and a computer to the 2-3?"
"That's right. Joe set it up in that room that hasn't been used for several years."
"Has anybody used the computer yet?" Gary asked.
"A few of us were playing pinball against each other after our shifts ended."
"And how did you do?"
"As of now, Josie said, "you are looking at the pinball champion of the 2-3.
"Are you guys having a tournament or anything like that?"
"No, we're just keeping a running tally of our scores. Besides, I have other plans for that computer," Josie said.
"Like what?" Gary asked.
"Like getting the investigation against Joe stopped once and for all."