The correct answer is "to explore the possibility of the fire smoldering long before the cat was dead".
The author's does that to stretch the readers anticipation and therefore intensify the tension by slightly and alternatively moving the attention from the previous and subsequent horrific events, which will inevitably remain in the readers mind due the visceral nature of them, since it's a horrific tale that strives for accentuating feelings like despair and distress with frightening scenarios.
You need to provide an example in order for me to answer this
The first one summarizes his life the best because he was assassinated and did not die naturally.
I think its C.Primary source