The Wright Way

Craig woke up to the sounds of banging on his apartment door. Confused and groggy he found himself looking for his alarm clock. It was “8:12” in the morning, hours before Craig's mid-shift at the department downtown. Flustered and anxious, Craig opened the door hoping the banging would all be a misunderstanding.

“Craig Knox,” the man at the door asked. Leery to respond, Craig replied, “Yes?” The man at the door was wearing a tailored black suit. He was tall, dark skin, clean shaven, with a fresh haircut. He was muscular and appeared to be well spoken. Craig was confused as to how this man knew his name and address. Craig figured he was going to be served or maybe even questioned for the events that unfolded the week prior.

The man reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope. The man handed the envelope to Craig, “A thank you, from Mr. Wright,” the man said, as he smiled and walked down the hall to the apartment building’s exit. Craig took the envelope and closed his apartment door. “What is this?” Craig thought as he began to open the envelope.

As Craig opened the envelope he saw a letter that was addressed to him. The letter was from Mr. Wright:

“ Mr. Knox, I wanted to say thank you for your service to this community and your most recent acts of selflessness. I have enclosed a small token of my appreciation. I hope you continue to be the brave individual you are. Sincerely, Mr. J. Wright.”

Craig wondered who Mr. J. Wright was and how he knew of any acts of service Craig provided the community. Interested to see what the “small token of appreciation” was, Craig looked in the envelope and saw one small gold key and wondered what the key was for.

He placed the envelope on his nightstand and went back to bed. Mr. Knox woke up to his alarm sounding, it was noon and time to get ready for his shift downtown. Mr. Craig Knox was a decorated police officer of the 4th division on the southside of Chicago. His latest internal affairs investigation interview would be with the Captain and other important members of the review board. The events that unfolded last week involved a drug bust, two dead, and evidence of dirty cops and politicians. Craig was in for one interesting day, especially with the way his morning started.

As he walked toward the door and grabbed the envelope off the nightstand, Craig opened the door and noticed another envelope taped to his door. He pulled the envelope off the door and began walking toward the apartment exit. As he opened the envelope he saw an address, “1332 W. Lincoln,” and a four digit number, “1732”. He tucked both envelopes in his pocket and drove to work.

The interview lasted most of the day and Craig couldn’t stop thinking about the two envelopes that were in his pocket. After the interviews were over for the day, Craig plugged in the address to the GPS on his phone and drove to the destination. As he pulled into the parking lot he realized that he was at First Bank and Trust. He asked to talk to a manager and requested to see the contents of the safe deposit box numbered 1732.

The bank manager walked him over to the safe deposit box location, removed the box and left the area so Mr. Knox could have some privacy. Mr. Knox opened the box and reached inside, he pulled out a small black book. He wondered why this book was a small token and opened the black book. Inside he saw dates, names, infractions, and corruption that implicated criminals, civil service members, law enforcement officers, and politicians. Mr. Knox was astonished by the detailed evidence in the book and took a few minutes to gather himself and what he wanted to do with the information. Here he was, in the middle of an internal affairs investigation at work , while also being the recipient of Mr. Wright’s hero games. He figured that the information was a lead in completing his investigation that recently became public. “Who is Mr. J. Wright?” Craig thought to himself, and “Why did he pick me?”

Craig put the small black book in his pocket and left the bank. On his way home he thought about getting rid of the book and never thinking of what he saw again, but Craig couldn’t just turn off his moral compass that easily. By the time Craig made it home, he’d made his mind up. He was going to dig into the levels of corruption within the city under the radar, it was the safest way.

He began with looking into Mr. J. Wright and who this person was. He was able to find minimal information. Mr. J. Wright was Mr. Jasper Wright, an old philanthropist who grew his empire through hosting formal galas, non-profit organizing for the socioeconomically disadvantaged and profitable investments. His association with the police department began several years before Craig joined the department. The information he had on so many higher figures was through his knowledge of their dealings and interactions with each other in the socialite society.

Craig began to look through files and evidence while at work. After work he would physically go to various locations to verify that the listed illegal actions in the black book were all connected. As Craig went through each person’s background he realized that the information in the small black book connected the dots to the event he was being investigated for. Craig realized that he was in a rat race, and that his career efforts of fighting crime was a front for the city and the citizens. Feeling used and misguided, Craig contemplated his next actions. He could bring this to the Captain and hope the Police Chief and City Mayor would follow protocol in seeing that the arrest and investigation of all suspects was swift. Craig could also go directly to the media and force the Mayor’s hand in placing everyone involved behind bars.

Craig sat on the information for a week until he decided that he was going to present the information to his Captain and push for a meeting with the Mayor. As a backup, Craig decided to make copies of all the evidence he found. He called his Captain’s office and scheduled a meeting. Once in the meeting, Craig showed the Captain all of the evidence and the way he connected the dots, without mentioning the small black book. The Captain was in shock and called the Police Chief immediately to request an immediate meeting. Both Craig and Captain Lewis made their way to The Police Chief’s office. They presented the case and the evidence to the Police Chief who jumped onboard and said he would contact the Mayor within the hour to request a meeting.

Craig left the office building feeling successful in his attempt to bring justice to the city. He drove home and waited for an update on the plan. The next morning Craig contacted Captain Lewis, who did not sound as enthused as the day before. Captain Lewis explained that the Police Chief and the Mayor wanted to bring the politicians and civil services members in quietly and give them an opportunity to fight the charges. Craig didn’t understand why justice wasn’t as simple as getting rid of corruption in the city.

After the conversation, he realized that the Mayor was focused on his own self-interest and his next campaign bid. Craig was in the same predicament of making a decision, he would either let the Mayor have his way or he would have to take the evidence to the press and let the people decide what to do with the corruption in their city.

“Maybe, Mr. Wright wanted me to figure all this out so that I could let the people decide. Maybe I need to contact the media,” Craig thought. He thought about the ramifications of releasing the information, including the loss of his job. Craig decided that justice means more than his personal situation and decided to go to the media, leaving the situation out of the Mayor’s hands.

The information aired the next day. From the morning news to the daily paper corrupted individuals and criminals alike were splashed across headlines which resulted in their swift arrest. The Mayor’s hands were tied, Craig was questioned but didn’t lose his job. Instead, he was rightfully celebrated like a hero.

The next morning, Craig returned to First Bank and Trust to return the small black book and when he opened the box there was a typed paper that contained twenty digits and the address of a bank in Switzerland.

Craig took the paper, placed it in his packet, and returned the small black book. When he returned to his apartment he looked up the bank and the account number. The account was active and had one deposit of twenty thousand dollars. “Mr. Wright!”, thought Craig, as he smiled and basked in the moment. Craig now understood that the small token was more than a lead, rather a reward for leaning on his moral compass and being true to his unwavering oath to protect and serve the city of Chicago.