Maybe this was precisely why I despised him. If Dan Baird was what Arch was supposed to be, where did I stack up? I’d been given so much and done next to nothing of value with it. I lied when it suited me. I had no faith. My only guiding principles were self-interest and a remora-like devotion to Arch—a devotion that had not prevented me from coveting his wife.

“Well?” Arch said.

If Baird was truly as good as he seemed, I thought, then Arch was a charlatan, and I was a pig. Maybe this nasty little trap was the answer—the way to prove Arch’s contention that no one could reach the pinnacle without compromising himself.

“Do it,” I said.

They held the last debate at Rhodes in Memphis. I stood with Marcus and Vanessa near Andy Goldberg, who watched the moderator’s table the entire night, chewing on his nails, pacing occasionally. Perhaps he wasn’t certain his ploy would come to fruition. He needn’t have worried. The two moderators were both reporters from the Commercial Appeal, which had been hemorrhaging subscribers and advertising revenue for years. Neither one gave a shit about which millionaire ended up as the Republican nominee. No political beat writer would pass an opportunity to get national exposure on Hardball or The O’Reilly Factor or get a story picked up by the Associated Press.

With about thirty minutes to go, one of the moderators started in.

“Dr. Baird,” he said. “You’re aware of the ongoing controversy in Florida over the Benvenuto case, are you not?”

“I am,” Baird said.

“Then you must also be aware that Congress has been called upon to intervene,” the journalist said. “If elected to the Senate, where would you side on the issue?”

“Well, it’s a complex case, Carl,” Baird said.

“Yes, but you’ve seen the video of Mrs. Benvenuto, and you’ve followed the case. As a physician, you must have an opinion.”

“I am a physician,” Baird said. “But I’m not Mrs. Benvenuto’s physician, nor am I a neurologist. Do I have an opinion? Indeed I do. Everyone has an opinion. You know how much those opinions are worth when you don’t know all the facts? Squat.”

“But as a celebrated surgeon,” the journalist continued, “surely your opinion would matter a great deal to your colleagues in the Senate. So would you mind sharing it with the audience?”

Baird paused for a moment before answering.