In the scene where the young boy is walking down the stairs past the cop I think the director did a great job of showing how suspicious the cop was by putting the cat in the background. The boy told the police officer he was walking down to the beach, but he was really shooting the cop. The police officer asked about three times what the boy was doing and where he was going. In the background, there was a cat wandering around. Cats usually symbolize suspicion and suspense. The use of the cat really enhanced the cops suspicion of the boy trying to kill the cop, which he ended up doing.