Royce Asked The Judge To Release The Part Before Trial

The courtroom was colder than any hangar I had worked in.

I sat behind June Bell while Ada waited beside me. This hearing concerned the museum's property case. My claim over the fundraiser statement would follow its own schedule. Ada had come to protect my interests while I testified.

Two pencils lay on the table in front of us. I lined their blunt ends together, then folded my hands in my lap. Ada saw me do it.

“You don't have to answer until you understand the question,” she said.

I nodded. That was a rule I could work with.

Royce sat across the aisle in the gray suit. He nodded at two people in the gallery, then seemed to remember where he was.

The judge began by saying she would not decide every claim that morning. She would decide whether the part could be removed from the museum before the case was resolved.

Royce's lawyer said it was private property held by people using it to damage his client.

June held up the aircraft transfer.

“We have a record of ownership,” she said. “We have no record of his gift.”

The judge asked for his purchase receipt.

“Records from that period are incomplete,” his lawyer answered.

“Then tell me what supports this request.”

Royce took the stand.

He described long nights, hard choices, and young mechanics who needed firm guidance. He called 418 a symbol of his service. His voice had the warm bend I remembered from the fundraiser.

June waited until he finished.

“Did your company submit an invoice for replacing this component last month?”

“For restoration services, yes.”

“Was the component replaced?”

“The project was in progress.”

She gave him the invoice.

“Please read the words above the acceptance signature.”

He took a breath.

“Work completed and accepted.”

“Who completed it?”

“There may have been an administrative error.”

“Who bought the part?”

His lawyer objected that the hearing had a narrow purpose. The judge allowed questions about the competing ownership claim but warned June to stay there.

June asked once more who had bought it.

“I can't name the supplier from memory,” Royce said.

Next, Nadine testified. She brought her bound notebook, the certified county packet, and the photograph. June had already exchanged copies with the other lawyer.

Royce's lawyer asked if she disliked him.

“I dislike what he did,” she said.

“You and Mr. Whitcomb prepared your accounts together.”

“We compared records this month. I filed that statement twelve years ago.”

“You cannot personally know whether someone changed a component after you left.”

“Correct.”

He paused, as if she'd failed a test.

She kept her hands still.

“I can tell you the number before I left. Ms. Ellis can tell you the number found this month.”

Ruth followed her. She described the filmed inspection and identified her photographs. She could not swear that nobody had ever removed and reinstalled the piece. She could swear that the installed part bore A7319, and the crack was present when she tested it.

Then June called me.

I gave my job, my age, and the date I had last served under Royce. My mouth went dry when I saw him sitting ten feet away.

June handed me the grounding order.

“Why did you remain at the field?”

“Because that order told me to prevent an engine start or a tow for flight.”

“What did you do after the last evacuation aircraft departed?”

“Secured the controls. Stayed beside 418. Met the recovery crew at dawn.”

Royce's lawyer asked why I hadn't protested sooner.

“I did,” I said. “To supervisors. I didn't file a lawsuit then.”

“But now there's money involved.”

“There was money involved when someone used my signature.”

He asked the judge to strike that answer. She told him to ask his next question.

When testimony ended, the judge denied Royce's request to remove the part. The museum would keep it under the existing seal and access log. Both sides could arrange an inspection through counsel. Nobody could alter or dispose of it without agreement or another order.

She did not rule that every claim against Royce was true. She said the papers he offered did not justify taking the disputed object out of secure storage.

Outside, Royce passed close enough for me to smell his aftershave.

“You enjoyed that,” he said.

“I answered questions.”

“I gave you a career.”

Nadine stepped beside me.

“He brought his own hands,” she said.

We left him on the courthouse steps.

That evening, I put my court receipt under a magnet on the refrigerator. Ada called while I was washing a plate.

“Their lawyer wants a settlement meeting,” she said. “He also delivered the company emails we requested.”

“What's in them?”

Paper shifted at her end.

“An instruction from Royce to use your signature. And a reason for keeping you away from the aircraft.”