Too late?
Defender leads the ace of clubs, but mistakenly pulls another card out below. He thinks no one saw it, so quickly picks both up, places them back in his hand, and plays the AC again. Everyone follows suit, so he wins the trick, and then all four players turn their played card over.
Declarer then calls the director as he saw the other card, but is it too late to do that?
Comments
The "extra" card was either in a position where his partner could have seen it, or it wasn't - that's a matter of fact.
If it was, then it's a penalty card, and should be treated accordingly. For defender to attempt to hide the fact is a breach of law 72B3. It's not too late (there is no time limit other than the end of the hand).
LAW 58 - SIMULTANEOUS LEADS OR PLAYS
A. Simultaneous Plays by Two Players
A lead or play made simultaneously with another player’s
legal lead or play is deemed to be subsequent to it.
B. Simultaneous Cards from One Hand
If a player leads or plays two or more cards simultaneously:
1. If the face of only one card is visible, that card is
played; all other cards are picked up and there is no
further rectification (see Law 47F).
2. If the face of more than one card is visible, the
offending player designates the card he proposes to
play; when he is a defender, each other card
exposed becomes a penalty card (see Law 50).
If the card was not visible, the player was entitled to pick it up, so the first thing is to establish whether or not that was the case. If it was visible, I might be considering whether Law 11 is applicable:
LAW 11 - FORFEITURE OF THE RIGHT TO RECTIFICATION
A. Action by Non-Offending Side
The right to rectification of an irregularity may be forfeited if
either member of the non-offending side takes any action
before summoning the Director. If a side has gained through
subsequent action taken by an opponent in ignorance of the
relevant provisions of the law, the Director adjusts only that
side’s score by taking away any accrued advantage. The other
side retains the score achieved at the table.
Thanks for the replies.
Defender didn't think the card was visible, but declarer said he saw it, and correctly named it, so I made it a penalty card.
It was the delay that foxed me. I didn't think they shouldn't have played the trick out, but in one way I can see why they may, and then sort the problem. Law 11 was what I was missing.
The reason to consider Law 11 is to stop declarer attempting to gain an advantage from the late call for the TD - waiting until the end of trick 1 to decide whether the second card should be a penalty card and (therefore) led to trick 2.
The other law the director might employ is the preamble to Law 50
My italics.
In this case, the Director may "designate otherwise" and have the card remain restored to declarer's hand.