Yeah, exactly. Clipperton only mattered to Mario and they were special friends. Therefore, Mario took it upon himself to take care of his friend and clean up his mess. Also, Mario just seems to be a very compassionate person.

Since Mario and his father were the only ones to witness the bloody shooting, perhaps Mario wants to clean it up before anyone else is subjected to the sight of Clipperton's brains all over the bathroom wall. Talking about his death or using it as a lesson is one thing, but being splattered in blood is a lot of more raw. Lacks the distinct sense of humor many of the deaths in this novel are laced with. Or perhaps Mario feels some sort of responsibility for what happened? Which would be interesting, since Clipperton's entire interaction with others involves them trying to avoid responsibility for causing him to off himself. In the end, of course, it wouldn't be anyone's fault, but that doesn't matter.

Mario is responsible for letting Clipperton into the ETA compound in the first place, so I thought his insistence was based on a guilt of giving Clipperton his desired conditions for suicide.

Yeah, I thought that it was just a matter of respect-- Mario wouldn't let his father tape the funeral for his jr. tennis documentary, and he didn't want his friend's bloody remains to be on display or cleaned up by anyone who didn't know him or connect with him. I hadn't thought about Mario feeling guilty, but that is a possiblility, although I feel like Mario realizes that Clipperton's suicide may have been unavoidable, whether he had been at ETA or not.

I was wondering about the significance of mentioning that Clipperton using his good right hand this time instead of the left one. I guess it just shows that this time it's for real, and he's really going to do it off the court. But what about the snapshot of some Midwestern couple's wedding? That was just sort of thrown in there.