OLDER GENTLEMAN: "That is a fair question. And I would like you to answer it."
The man in the suit looked toward the woman in black.
She immediately lowered her eyes.
MAN IN SUIT: "The decision was made after discussions with the judging coordination team."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Who participated in those discussions?"
MAN IN SUIT: "Several people."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Names, please."
The man remained silent.
The elderly gentleman placed both hands on the table.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "I do not think you understand the seriousness of this situation. We are no longer discussing a simple scheduling adjustment. We have documents showing that an approved contestant's category was changed, her supporting photographs were removed, and her presentation time was reduced."
He paused.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "We also have a written instruction suggesting that she should not receive the highest award under any circumstances."
A wave of shock moved through the audience.
The man in the suit looked down.
MAN IN SUIT: "That instruction was not intended to determine the final result."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Then what was it intended to do?"
MAN IN SUIT: "It was part of an internal discussion."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "An internal discussion about preventing a contestant from winning?"
MAN IN SUIT: "That is not how I would describe it."
The woman in green finally stood up.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "Then perhaps you can explain it in a way that makes sense to everyone here."
The man turned toward her.
MAN IN SUIT: "Madam, I respect your position, but you were not involved in the administrative process."
WOMAN IN GREEN: "I am involved in the judging process. And if someone has attempted to influence the outcome before the judges have completed their work, that directly concerns me."
The man looked increasingly frustrated.
MAN IN SUIT: "Nobody was trying to influence you."
WOMAN IN GREEN: "Then why was the contestant's presentation altered without her knowledge?"
There was no immediate response.
The elderly gentleman turned toward the middle-aged woman who had brought the documents.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "You mentioned that there was an additional message. Does it identify the reason for these changes?"
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN: "Yes, sir. I believe it does."
She opened the folder and removed another printed page.
MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN: "This message was sent several days before the final presentation. It was originally addressed to the senior administration office. I received a copy because I was responsible for maintaining the contestants' registration records."
She placed it on the table.
The elderly gentleman examined it.
Then he turned toward the man in the suit.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Would you like to read this?"
The man looked at the document but did not reach for it.
MAN IN SUIT: "I already know what it says."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Then you should have no difficulty explaining it."
The gentleman handed the page to the woman in green.
She read it carefully.
Her expression changed.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "This is unbelievable."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "What does it say?"
The woman in green looked toward the audience.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "It suggests that the contestant's design was considered a potential threat to another participant's chances of receiving the main award."
The audience immediately began whispering.
The blue-gown contestant looked confused.
BLUE-GOWN CONTESTANT: "A threat?"
The woman in green nodded.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "The message refers to the possibility that your creation could attract more attention than the collection of a favored participant."
The young woman slowly turned toward the judges' table.
She looked at the designer of the black gown.
The other woman appeared equally surprised.
BLACK-GOWN DESIGNER: "Wait. What does that mean? I never asked anyone to change another contestant's registration."
The man in the suit quickly raised one hand.
MAN IN SUIT: "Nobody said that you did."
BLACK-GOWN DESIGNER: "Then why is my collection being mentioned in this message?"
The man did not answer.
The elderly gentleman looked at him.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "I believe you should explain."
The man finally spoke.
MAN IN SUIT: "The organization had made a significant investment in promoting the featured collection. We had sponsors, marketing commitments, and expectations regarding the final presentation. There were concerns that an unexpected result could affect those arrangements."
The elderly gentleman stared at him.
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Are you suggesting that a contestant was treated unfairly because the organization wanted a particular person to receive the award?"
MAN IN SUIT: "No. I am saying that the competition had commercial responsibilities."
OLDER GENTLEMAN: "Commercial responsibilities do not give anyone the right to manipulate a judging process."
The man looked toward the woman in black.
MAN IN SUIT: "The judges were still free to make their own decisions."
The woman in green shook her head.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "Not if the information presented to them had already been altered."
She pointed toward the documents.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "We were given an incomplete presentation. We were not informed that the original photographs had been removed. We were not told that the contestant's classification had been changed. And now we discover that someone had written an instruction suggesting she should never receive the highest award."
She looked directly at the man.
WOMAN IN GREEN: "How can you call that a fair process?"
The man remained silent.
The elderly gentleman slowly closed the folder.