Page 66 of Killer Clone

“I…” Murray rubbed the side of his chin again. Stella wanted to smack his hand down. “The request was disrespectful. But I didn’t think he was serious. I just thought it was a bad joke.”

“A bad joke. Right.” Arms and legs joined in a circle of different skin tones. There had been nothing of a bad joke in what Darwin Rhodell had tried to do. Just evil kitsch. “Where were you on Friday evening?”

Murray leaned closer. He had a long, thin body, and he towered over Stella like a stork. “On Friday, I would’ve still been at the National Funeral Directors Association Convention in Columbus. I’m sure you can find a record of my presence there.”

Stella took a step back. Despite his height, Murray’s closeness wasn’t intimidating. Just unpleasant. “In Ohio?”

“That’s right. I stayed at a Radisson.”

She took a note of this. “When did you leave?”

“Saturday morning. Friday was the last day. There was a dinner in the evening. I checked out shortly after breakfast and arrived home around four.”

Stella took a slow, deep breath. She’d check that. She’d check it thoroughly. But a presence at a convention would be a difficult thing to fake. If Murray had been involved in Patrick Marrion’s murder, he’d surely have thought of an easier alibi.

“And on Tuesday morning?”

“Do you mean when Otto went home sick? I was here. Mrs. Osgood’s funeral. Lovely family. Such a loss.” Murray lowered his head and appeared to drop back into mourning.

Stella ignored his apparent grief. Her sympathy for Rhodell’s painting pal was stretched thin. “How convenient.”

“Not for Mrs. Osgood,” Murray countered.

Hagen nudged Stella and cocked his head toward the door. “I think that’s it for now, Mr. Murray. Thanks for your help.”

Murray’s hand shot out. “There is one thing…”

He had a strange look on his face.

Stella had to see where this was going. “Yes?”

He rocked on his heels. “Well, it’s odd, you know. I wonder if this will even be of interest to you.”

“Go on, Mr. Murray.” She tried to tell herself to be patient and listen.

“I know you weren’t really asking about Otto just now, so maybe it’s not pertinent. But you two aren’t the first people to ask about him this morning.”

Stella narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

Murray folded his hands together, then unfolded them. “A young man came through here right after we opened at nine. He was only here for a few minutes. But he said he was a friend of Otto’s.”

“I thought you said Otto didn’t have any friends that you knew of?”

“This was the first time I’d seen this person. I’d never heard of him before.”

Hagen pulled out his notebook. “Did you get a name?”

“He didn’t say. I don’t think I even asked.”

“So what did this young man want?”

“That’s the thing. I’m not quite sure what he wanted. He was asking a bunch of questions. It was almost like he was fishing for information or something.”

Stella toyed with the stud in her ear. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know, really. It was just my sense of it. But he asked about you.”

That was a surprise. “What do you mean?”