Illogical logic

"Hey, they want you in the sergeant's office. Just come back out when you're done."

This was the interruption to our weekly gaming session out at rec. I had no idea what the sergeant wanted me for, but I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. I just had to get up and leave my fellow players hanging.

When I got to his office, Sergeant French was sitting behind the desk. He's the one who has always had it out for me since I started working in the library. He was wearing a face that said, "Gotcha this time."

"Come on in. You've got a case for having gambling paraphernalia."

"What? Gambling paraphernalia? What you talking about?" I replied incredulously. I definitely didn't have that in my cell or even hear me.

"Yep. You got a case for these papers."

He held up two sheets of paper with boxes of X's and O's marked in 5 x 5 squares. It took a second for me to recognize what it was and then it hit me.

"That's not gambling paraphernalia. That's a logic puzzle I was working on. The 'exes' and 'ohs' are for eliminating answers."

"I see the nicknames on the rows and columns here. This is gambling," French said, still thinking he had won.

"No, those are labels for the categories. I can show you the puzzle. I have it in my cell."

"Fine. Go get it."

A few minutes later I was back with the puzzle in hand and showed it to the sergeant.

"Oh, so this is a game. You didn't buy this on commissary so it's contraband. That's a case." He was still trying to nail me with something. He just couldn't stand to see me go. I don't know why he dislikes me so much, but he does.

"Hold on," called out the lieutenant from behind her desk. "Come show me how this works."

After I went through the first few clues and showed her the corresponding marks on the paper, she said, "You're OK. Go on back to rec."

I had to go back to the security office when I found that the rec doors were shut. After I asked for the doors to be opened, the lieutenant asked if I knew anything about computers.

"Yeah, quite a bit," I replied.

She turned to the sergeant, smiled, and said, "See, told ya."