Death and the Emperor

In “Death and the Emperor,” Edith Ellsmer has spent years tending Meadow Hill Estate and grooming its prized Persian cat, Splendid Emperor, while her employer, the vain and overbearing Mrs. Cole, claims all the glory. When a lucrative contract offer arrives—five thousand dollars a year for the rights to the emperor’s name and another two thousand for a booklet—Edith assumes she’ll finally share the spotlight. Instead, Mrs. Cole belittles her, plans to take full credit, and then secretly calls an agency to replace her. Cornered and furious, Edith devises a plan to make Mrs. Cole’s frequent warnings come true: that the playful emperor might someday turn on the gas jets while jumping on the stove. Edith turns the handles herself in the dead of night, stages the scene, and even uses Martin the caretaker as a witness to the cat’s dangerous habit. The sheriff nearly uncovers the truth—until the emperor conveniently leaps onto the stove again, sealing the “accident” as fact. Edith inherits everything and prepares to sign the lucrative contracts, believing she’s won. But the next morning Mr. Murdoch arrives to find both Edith and the emperor dead—the cat had once again jumped onto the stove for the hidden catnip bag, and this time the fumes took them both. The very method Edith used for murder circles back and claims her as its final victim.