Chapter 6 — The Rule Colin Never Checked
Colin kept insisting he was protecting tournament integrity.
So Rachel asked a simple question.
“What do your rules actually say about hearing aids?”
Colin reached for the event handbook.
He flipped through several pages.
Then stopped.
George watched his face.
“Found it?”
Colin read silently.
Rachel took the booklet.
The rule prohibited unauthorized phones, headphones, smart glasses, communication receivers, and other electronic assistance devices during play.
Then directly beneath that:
Medically necessary hearing devices are permitted. Tournament staff may request reasonable verification but must not deprive a participant of an assistive device while play is in progress.
George stared at Colin.
“You had the answer in your own rulebook.”
Colin looked embarrassed.
“I didn’t remember that section.”
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“So instead of looking it up, you took his hearing aid.”
“I was trying to act quickly.”
“Then you lied about it.”
Natalie looked down.
Colin did too.
George remained calmer than Rachel expected.
“This isn’t only about me missing one round of announcements.”
He looked around the ballroom.
“You decided that something I need to participate normally made me suspicious.”
No one answered.
Then George added:
“And when you realized what you’d done, your solution was to pretend nobody had done it.”
That was the part Colin could not defend.
A mistake could have been corrected at 10:26.
Natalie recognized the hearing aid.
She said so.
Colin could have walked back into the ballroom.
Returned it.
Apologized.
Instead, he told her to bag it.
And if George asked…
pretend it had been sitting there since yesterday.