The narrator and his wife live in a house with their pet cat named Pluto. The couple is very fond of their large black cat, and Pluto too loves the narrator. Their close friendship lasts many years until one day when the narrator hangs the cat under the influence of alcohol.
Soon after the cat's death, their house catches fire and everything is destroyed. But one wall, which survives the mysterious fire, has an imprint of the large cat tied upside down with a rope.
Disturbed on seeing this, the narrator regrets his actions. One fine evening, he finds a similar cat in a bar and brings that home. The new cat is very similar to Pluto, except for minor differences. Whenever the man sees the new cat, he is reminded of Pluto and is filled with a feeling of guilt.
One day when the man and his wife are walking towards the cellar, the cat gets under the feet of his master and he trips down the stairs. In a fit of rage, he tries to kill the new cat too. But the wife stops him, and in this process gets killed accidentally.
He hides the body inside a wall in the house and when the police investigation begins he takes careful steps. On the day of closing the murder mystery, the police hear a disturbing loud crying sound from one of the walls. The police start breaking down the walls of that room and discover the rotting body of the dead wife.
Beside the dead body is a cat, grinning and meowing vehemently.