The history is narrated in first person by a men who denied his madness and want to convence the lector, that his mental disequilibrium, is just an unusual ingenuity and acuity of the senses. He told the meticulosity wich with spy on during the night to an old man whom he lives, he say not hate him, he don´t desire his fortune, but he detest his horrible blue eye with cataract, of which according with the narrator, is the reason of the death sentence of the old man.
He spy him for seven days at midnight, every time that he disturb in the room it takes an hour to introduce the head, he carry a lamp which light up with thread of light the old man´s face, during the seven nights, the eye is closed. In the eighth night an indiscreet noise awake the old man who stay for a hour sitting in bed with the chest rumbling of terror. Impatient the lamp is turn on, the ray of light get straight to the eye with cataract who horribly shines, the old man scream and his heart is run riot.The acute sense of hearing, heard it as a "clock wrapped in pillows" in order to shut up that violent beat, or that seems to our narrator, it could be listen by neighbors, the narrator kill the old man dropping over the elder the heavy bed.
He clean all trace of the murder, by dismember the body and hide it "ingeniously" under the draws of the floor. Two police agents introduce themselves alerted by the neighboors who reported have listened a scream; they are friendly and confidently welcome by the murder who tell them that the older of the house is travelling, he lead them directly to the bedrrom where the crime is commitment and talk about relevant topics. The murder start to speak up, he despair for the whisper than heard and recognize as a "clock wrapped in pillows", is the heart´s old man which keep beating; he ask himself why the agents don´t hear it, ¿Perhaps they make fun of him?; he can´t stand it anymore so show them the place where hide his crime.