“Well, first off, if I’d had a twin, I’d know. Somebody would have told me. But far more important, Goblin writes with his right hand. And I’ve always been left-handed.”

“Tarquin,” she said, “he’s a mirror twin. Haven’t you ever heard of them? They mirror each other exactly. And there’s an old legend that argues that every left-handed person is the survivor of mirror twins, one of whom perished in the womb, but your twin didn’t perish that way. Tarquin, I think we need to talk to Patsy. I think Patsy wants you to know. She’s weary of the silence.”

I was too shocked to speak.

I made a little gesture for patience and then I stood up and beckoned for them to come with me.

We crossed the hall. Patsy’s door was open. Her room didn’t have a parlor like mine, but it was spacious and beautiful, with a regal bed done up in blue-and-white ruffles, and a blue silk couch and chairs before it. She was sitting on the couch with Cindy, our nurse, watching the television while Big Ramona sat with her embroidering ring in one of the chairs. The volume of the television was so low it seemed unimportant. Big Ramona rose to go as we entered. So did Cindy.

“What kind of invasion is this?” Patsy asked. “Hey, Cindy, don’t you go without giving me another shot. I’m sick. And you, Tarquin Blackwood, half the time you don’t know I’m alive. When I die, are you going to drag everybody to Metairie Cemetery at the stroke of twelve?”

“I don’t know, Patsy,” I said. “Maybe I’ll just strangle you and dump you in the swamp. I dream about that sometimes, murdering you and dumping you in the swamp. I dream I did it. You tasted like cotton candy and candy apples, and you sank deep down in the green water.”

She laughed and shook her head as she looked at me and at my two friends. In her long white flannel nightgown she looked particularly thin, which worried me for her. And her blond hair, so often teased, was brushed out and hung down in waves, making her look young. Her eyes were big and hard.

“You’re so crazy, Tarquin Blackwood,” she sneered. “You should have been drowned when you were born. You don’t know how much I hate you.”

“Now, Patsy, you don’t mean that,” said Cindy, the nurse. “I’ll be up to give you another shot in an hour.”

“I’m sick right now,” said Patsy.

“You’re loaded right now is what you are,” said Big Ramona.

“Can we talk to you for a little while?” asked Lestat. He gestured gently and she motioned for him to sit beside her. He settled there and actually put his arm along the back of the couch behind her.