Ted gives a shrug at Beard's realisation. It wasn't just that, but also that they wanted to pretend like everything was normal. And Ted wanted to face Rupert. But yeah. He was also bait.

"I think that was the point by then," he answers Nate.

"Anyway, Joan had a hunch something was wrong with the food, so without me knowing, she switched our plates."

He gives a 'there you have it' gesture.