Notes

This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself
forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of
concealing the body. I knew that I could not remove it from
the house, either by day or by night, without the risk of being
observed by the neighbors. Many projects entered my mind.
At one period I thought of cutting the corpse into minute
fragments, and destroying them by fire. At another, I
resolved to dig a grave for it in the floor of the cellar. Again,
I deliberated about casting it in the well in the yard—about
packing it in a box, as if merchandise, with the usual
arrangements, and so getting a porter to take it from the
house. Finally I hit upon what I considered a far better
12 THE BLACK CAT
expedient than either of these. I determined to wall it up in
the cellar, as the monks of the Middle Ages are recorded to
have walled up their victims.
For a purpose such as this the cellar was well adapted.
Its walls were loosely constructed, and had lately been
plastered throughout with a rough plaster, which the
dampness of the atmosphere had prevented from hardening.
Moreover, in one of the walls was a projection, caused by a
false chimney, or fireplace, that had been filled up and made
to resemble the rest of the cellar. I made no doubt that I
could readily displace the bricks at this point, insert the
corpse, and wall the whole up as