I am having a problem with searching the online rulebook from bowl.com right now. Here's a cut and paste of the dead ball rule. May not be applicable in your case but I think it might. I believe it used to be written that a dead ball could be called prior to the pins falling if there was some sort of distraction or interference, but it looks like the rule is not as I remembered.
8. Dead Ball
When a dead ball is called, the delivery does not count and the correct pins must be respotted. The player is allowed to rebowl that delivery.
A ball shall be declared dead if any of the following occur:
a. After a delivery, attention is immediately called to the fact that one or more pins were missing from the setup.
b. A human pinsetter interferes with any standing pin before the ball reaches the pins.
c. A human pinsetter removes or interferes with any downed pin before it stops rolling.
d. A player bowls on the wrong lane or out of turn, or one player from each team on the pair of lanes bowls on the wrong lane.
e. A player has physical contact with another person or moving object as the ball is being delivered and before delivery is completed. In such case, the player has the option to accept the resulting pinfall or have a dead ball called.
f. Any pin is moved or knocked down as a player delivers the ball but before the ball reaches the pins.
g. A delivered ball comes in contact with a foreign obstacle.
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