The room was completely quiet. Malcolm turned that over in his mind, a used component, not just uncertified, not just from a rejected batch, pre-stressed, already partially fatigued when someone put it into a $48 million jet and sent it into the sky. That's not negligence, he said slowly. No, Susan said. That's deliberate.
Yes, Susan said. That's deliberate. Delgato's team arrived at the airfield before noon. What followed was the kind of controlled, methodical escalation that federal investigations produce when the evidence is solid and the timeline is moving. Delgado walked through the hanger with Susan with his own technical adviser with a documentation photographer.
He asked precise questions and received precise answers. At one point he stopped next to Malcolm and said without looking at him, "This is bigger than Apex Vector." "I know," Malcolm said. "How long have you known?" Malcolm thought about it. "Since I counted 11 components in an aircraft that manifested four," he said. "That's not a supplier substituting cheaper parts to protect a margin.
That's a system." Delgato nodded. Someone inside Sterling Crown's procurement chain was selecting aircraft for modification, he said. Not randomly, not incidentally. Selecting specific aircraft and replacing certified components with uncertified ones in a way that would survive a standard pre-flight check, but not a deep restoration inspection. He paused.
Most of these aircraft never get a deep restoration inspection except when three major firms refuse the contract and they have to find someone else, Malcolm said. Except then, Delgato said. They stood in silence for a moment. Who? Malcolm said.
We have a name, Delgato said. I can't share it, but we have a name and we have as of this morning a warrant. He paused. Thanks in part to your documentation which established the procurement timeline with enough specificity to give us probable cause. Malcolm said nothing.
You're going to be asked to testify, Delgato said formally. Grand jury possibly. Are you prepared for that? Yes, Malcolm said. Delgato looked at him.
It'll put your name in connection with a federal investigation that affects business sometimes. Everything affects business. Malcolm said, "Signing something I shouldn't sign affects business worse." Delgato nodded. He went back to his team. It was Rachel who called at 2:00 in the afternoon while Malcolm was still at the airfield watching the inspection of the second aircraft proceed.
Malcolm, she said, "We got three new inquiry calls this morning." He blinked. From who? Two corporate aviation operators, one charter company. All three said they'd heard through the network that we were involved in the Sterling Crown inspection. She paused.
They want to know if we do fleet audits. Malcolm stood still. We've never done fleet audits, he said. I know, Rachel said. I told them that.