Chapter 4 — What Happened at Table 14
Hotel Security Manager Denise Porter pulled up the recording.
10:17 AM.
George was visible at Table 14.
He removed his hearing aid.
Placed it beside his folded score sheet.
Then walked toward the restroom corridor.
For approximately twenty seconds, nothing happened.
Then another tournament player entered the frame.
Martin Shaw.
George recognized him immediately.
Martin had played competitive chess for decades.
He and George knew each other casually.
Never friends.
Never enemies.
Martin stopped beside Table 14.
He looked at the hearing aid.
Then looked toward the ballroom entrance.
He did not touch it.
Instead, he walked directly toward Colin.
The two spoke.
Colin returned to the table.
Then came the part that made George furious.
Colin picked up the hearing aid himself.
He placed it inside a napkin.
Carried it out of the ballroom.
Rachel paused the footage.
“That’s not a volunteer.”
Colin said nothing.
George turned toward him.
“You took it.”
Colin finally admitted it.
“Temporarily.”
“Without telling me.”
“I intended to verify—”
“How?”
Colin had no answer.
The recording continued.
At 10:24, Colin walked to the hotel reception desk.
He handed the napkin to Natalie.
She opened it.
Immediately recognized the object.
The camera had no audio.
But Natalie now explained what was said.
“I told him it looked like a hearing aid.”
Rachel stared at Colin.
“And?”
Natalie swallowed.
“He said to bag it anyway.”
“Then what?”
“He told me if anyone asked, say it had already been in lost property.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Yesterday.”
Natalie nodded.
That was why she lied.
Not because she found the hearing aid yesterday.
Because Colin wanted to hide the fact that tournament staff had deliberately removed it from George’s table.