To hide the body, he considers cutting her up, but decides to wall her inside a cellar niche (behind a false wall). He uses bricks and mortar. He feels clever when the cat disappears – it was the cat he wanted to kill anyway.
The narrator finds a new black cat in a tavern. It is identical to Pluto but has a white patch on its chest. He brings it home. His wife likes it, but the narrator grows to loathe it. The cat is affectionate, which annoys him. He notices the white patch slowly changing shape into a gallows .
Four days later, police arrive to investigate reports of her disappearance. They find nothing. The narrator casually taps on the wall where his wife is hidden. A loud, shrieking cry comes from within. They tear down the wall and find the wife’s corpse – and on her head, the black cat, alive, its mouth open in a scream. The narrator had accidentally walled the cat up with her.
