“And we had a tiny coffin for him, a white coffin, with him in a white christening gown, all nestled in it, poor little thing, and we went to the Metairie Cemetery, all of us, and Aunt Queen, for the love of God, why on earth did she bring you out there, and you were screaming and hollering and carrying on, and I hated her for bringing you, and she kept saying that you knew that your twin had died, you felt it, that I should hold you, can you imagine, that I should hold you, and there was my little Garwain in the teensy white coffin, and they put him in the grave and I had it carved on the stone, ‘Garwain, My Little Knight,’ and he’s in there now, in his own little place.”

The tears flowed down her cheeks. She shook her head.

“Don’t you think they moved him for Pops’ and Sweetheart’s coffins, or Aunt Queen’s. No, sir. They did not.” She shook her head resolutely. “There are eight slots in that mausoleum, and they did not move him. I saw to that. And I never, never went back to that crypt since the day we buried him until tonight and only because Aunt Queen left it in Grady Breen’s hands that I was to get a bonus check if I attended her pitiful stupid funeral. And Grady Breen tipped me off. He gave me a photocopy of the will last night, like I told you, because Aunt Queen said he could do it.

“Now talk about a bribe. If that isn’t the limit. And she knew how I felt about that place, she knew, it was her who made me vow I’d never breathe a word to you, that nobody would ever tell you that you had sucked all the blood out of that child, that little three-pound donor child. Like you were the one who had to be protected. Poor Quinn. God help you that you did that, you damn son of a bitch. You don’t know what hate is, unless you know how I hate you.”

She sobbed into her paper tissue. Cindy was distraught. She rose to go, but Patsy pulled her down. Patsy’s trembling fingers clung to her. Lestat’s hand closed over Patsy’s left shoulder and gently held it.

“Garwain,” said Lestat. “And when Goblin began to appear, did it ever seem to you that it might be the ghost of Garwain?”