How old was doug spalding when he decided to kill ralph

In The Utterly Perfect Murder, narrator Doug Spaulding decides to travel across America to murder his childhood friend, Ralph Underhill, who still lives in their hometown thirty-six years after their friendship. Doug contemplates his motivation while he travels across country by train.

Doug's internal conversation begins with a recollection of the physical violence he endured in their relationship: "Bruises. I was covered with bruises, both arms ... Hit and run, that was Ralph," (1). He finds the physical abuses of their relationship upsetting but justifies them as the nature of boyhood friendship. "Yes," he reasons, "boys love boys ... and the world is innocent and boys are evil beyond evil ... on some secret level, I had to be hurt ... my scars were the emblem and symbol of our love" (1). He decides something beyond those physical abuses motivates his murder plot, and recalls an incident where Ralph pushes him into the snow and mud on a day when Doug is wearing a new tweed.