Which answer best describes why the narrator of "the black cat" kept talking to the police while they were trying to leave and end their investigation
a) he was overconfident and giddy about finally getting rid of the cat
b) he was overcome with guilt about killing his innocent wife
c) he was hypnotized and unable to stop talking voluntarily
d) he was very proud of the solid construction of his cellar walls

A) He was overconfident and giddy about finally getting rid of the cat.

Explanation:

In Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Black Cat", the narrator protagonist was in captivity of a crime he had admitted. The whole story revolves round his recollection of how he ended up being in prison.

He started by saying that he had a cat which he killed out of sheer and sudden anger. Then he got another black cat who seemed to be almost the same as the previous one. And one such incident led to his accidental killing of his own wife, whose corpse he shielded from everyone by putting it inside the wall in the cellar.

Blaming the cat for the death of his wife, he wanted nothing more than to kill it. But unable to find the cat, he went along his life as normal, until the fourth day of the murder when some policemen came to inquire. Finding nothing suspicious, they were on their way out when the man, in his extreme happiness at being free of the monster, decided to rap the wall. His action produced a reply from the caved-in cat, standing at the head of the corpse which thus led to his arrest over the murder of his wife. His act of talking continuously was a sign of his overconfidence in his ability to be finally rid of the cat.

He did not seem to have any remorse for killing his wife, for he stated "I quivered not in a muscle. My heart beat calmly as that of one who slumbers in innocence." He also exclaimed that his "happiness was supreme", confirming that he felt elated at what he had done and how he had covered it all up.