Again, recall Peter's denial of Christ. The Lord is a crafty and forgiving Lord. While it may have been better to tell the truth and leave your wife without a husband and your children without a father, perhaps in this case it was the Lord's will for this man to give these murderers a response they deserved -- a lie.
Lying is not as simplistic as we pretend it to be. Did Jesus lie, for example, when he pretended that he was going on to the next city after his resurrection, when he was walking with the men along the road? He certainly was deceptive.
And was Jesus lying when he spoke in riddles with a main purpose being that some would not understand?
There is a place for crafty speech.
Thanks for your reminder of Jesus' "crafty speech"