"Oh, no apology needed. And Felix is just fine. I don't stand on the formalities when it comes to my friends." Which Rosco surely is as of now. Right?

Felix nods sympathetically. "I understand, certainly. And I don't want to underestimate how generous people can be here, but they do come and go quite often and many of them have limited means themselves. Hmm... maybe I could talk my boss into putting up a base salary - enough to live on comfortably - and we could save the public fund-raising for extra equipment and so on. He always complains this place is too lawless..."

And if the law's going to be in anyone's pocket, why not someone who genuinely values a measure of justice around the place?