How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Usual Suspects.
Quote #7
VERBAL: But why me? Why not Hockney or Fenster or McManus? I'm a cripple. I'm stupid. Why me?
KUJAN: Because you're a cripple, Verbal. Because you're stupid. Because you were weaker than them. Because you couldn't see far enough into him to know the truth.
Verbal is actually super smart, and has successfully convinced Kujan that he's stupid and that he wasn't able to catch on to Keaton. He plays his part like an actor, manipulating Kujan into believing that he (Verbal) was left alive in order to feed the cops a line of nonsense about Keaton being a good guy. (Of course, Keaton probably was a truly bad guy, but still no match for Verbal/Söze as a criminal mastermind.)