With every glass knocked back, Visscher further diluted Tuco's sense of pity; the secondhand embarrassment had been replaced by disbelief, and he was left wondering whether he'd found himself watching the beginnings of a miracle. It was a nice idea—after all, it was either that, or he was just sitting by as some shy doctor was bullied into slowly killing himself.

"I don't know how much he's going to learn," he said, signalling for another top up of his own. "Five more, he's going to swallow his tongue."