4 A Question of Trust by Victor Canning 10

4 A Question of Trust by Victor Canning

1. Word Meanings – A Question of Trust

Word/Phrase	Meaning
Burglar	A thief who breaks into houses to steal things
Honour among thieves	A belief that even thieves follow their own rules
Successful robbery	A theft that goes as planned and the thief escapes
Deceived	Tricked or fooled
Confession	Admitting something bad or wrong
Robbery	The act of stealing money or things
Intruder	A person who enters without permission
Reliable	Someone you can trust
Scent	A smell (in the story: perfume smell)
Gentleman thief	A polite, well-mannered thief

 Book Questions & Answers

Q1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?

Answer: Horace Danby liked to collect rare and expensive books. He loved reading and spent a lot of money buying these books through secret agents. To afford them, he committed one robbery every year.

Q2. Why does he steal every year?

Answer: Horace stole once every year to buy rare books that he loved but couldn’t afford. He did not use the stolen money for luxury. He only stole so he could continue with his book collection.

Q3. Who is speaking to Horace Danby? Who is she?

Answer: The person speaking to Horace Danby is a young woman who pretends to be the owner’s wife.
In reality, she is also a thief, and she tricks Horace by pretending to be part of the family who owns the house.

Q4. What is the ‘piece of evidence’ against him?

Answer: The piece of evidence was his fingerprints left on the safe while opening it. He did not wear gloves when he opened the safe for the woman (who tricked him), and that led the police to him.

Q5. Why did Horace Danby feel sure that the lady was the owner’s wife?

Answer: The lady spoke with confidence and knew every detail about the house, including the location of the safe and the dog’s name. She acted so naturally that Horace never doubted her and believed she was the owner’s wife.

Q6. Why did the woman pretend to be the owner’s wife?

Answer: She pretended to be the owner’s wife so she could fool Horace into opening the safe for her. Once she got the jewels, she left, and Horace took the blame. She was actually a clever thief.

Q7. What happened to Horace in the end?

Answer: Horace was arrested by the police because his fingerprints were found on the safe. He was tricked by the woman, but he did not tell the police about her, as he didn’t want to admit he had been fooled. Now in prison, he cleans the library and says he will never trust a "woman again".

SUMMARY

A Question of Trust was written by Victor Canning. 

This story is about a thief, Horace Danby who was a good citizen. He was an unmarried fifty-year-old man who used to work as a locksmith. He was a successful businessman too and had two helpers to assist him. Although he was a respectable man, he was not completely honest. He had a liking for rare and fancy books and would purchase them by any means. To pursue his expensive hobby, he would rob a safe once every year and purchased the expensive books covertly through an agent. He would chalk out a well-devised plan before making any burglary attempt. This time he had his eyes on a house at Shotover Grange and he carefully studied its rooms, electric wiring, its paths and the garden for two weeks. The family of that house was in London. One fine afternoon, the two caretakers of the house had gone to watch a movie. Horace realized this was the best time to execute his act. He came out from behind a wall of the garden and entered the house with all his tools packed in his bag. He had picked a key from the hook on the kitchen door. He quickly wore his gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints behind. He took the key from the hook and opened the door. He saw the dog, Sherry that wagged its tail when it saw Horace. Danby knew the safe was hidden behind a poor painting in the drawing room. There was a beautiful vase full of flowers kept on the table. He was allergic to the fragrance of flowers. He tickled his nose and kept sneezing repeatedly. He took out his tools and cut the burglar alarm. As he sneezed again loudly due to the fragrance of the flowers, he heard the voice of a young lady standing on the doorway behind him. The lady was dressed in red and pretended to be the house owner’s wife and she managed to convince Horace to believe her. She said that she had come there without notice to collect her jewels as she wanted to wear those at a party that night. Danby was frightened that the lady might hand him over to the police so he requested her to let him go. She told him that she would allow him to leave only if he opened the safe for her as she left all the jewels in it. She mentioned that she had forgotten the safe’s number combination and didn’t know how to unlock it. Danby offered to help her and opened the safe without his gloves on. The young  lady immediately took out all the jewels. Horace Danby left the house and went home happily assuming that he had escaped imprisonment. For the first two days, he kept his promise to the young lady. However, a policeman arrested him on the third day for the burglary of jewels at Shotover Grange. Horace Danby’s fingerprints were found all over the robbed place. Later, he confessed to committing the crime and that he had opened the safe for the young lady in the house, but didn’t steal the jewels inside. In reality, it so happened that the lady was also a thief and she convinced Horace to break open the safe for her. When he told this story to the police, no one believed him since the owner’s wife was a sixty-year-old woman, not the one Danby mentioned in his statement. In no time, the police arrested him and he was put behind the bars for the robbery case. He became the assistant librarian in the prison. He often thought of the charming, cunning young lady who was also a thief like him and tricked him to believe her. Henceforth, whenever anyone mentioned ‘honour among thieves’, he would get very angry and upset. 

CHARACTER SKETCH 

Horace Danby: Horace Danby was about fifty years old and unmarried. Everyone thought him a good and honest citizen. He was otherwise very well and happy except for attacks of hay fever in summer. He made locks and was fairly successful at his business. Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest. He used to rob a safe every year. He used to do so because he needed money to buy books. He had a passion for buying rare and costly books. He would rob only the rich person. He never hurt anyone and carried no weapon with him. He was not very aggressive and didn’t want to go to prison. 

The Lady in Red: The lady in red is gifted with a rare personality. She is full of confidence. She acts like a perfect actress presenting herself as the lady of the house. Even the dog was rubbing against her in a friendly manner. In a very subtle way, she told Horace that she wanted to wear the jewels in the safe to a party that night. She made him open the safe without gloves. Horace willingly hands over the jewels and she decamps with them.

:

1. Which of the two thieves lacked ‘honour’ in the story ‘A Question of Trust’?

In the story, Horace Danby considered himself an honourable thief because he stole only once a year and never harmed ordinary people. He loved books and used his stolen money to buy them. But the lady in red lacked honour. She tricked Horace by pretending to be the owner’s wife. She made him open the safe, took the jewels, and then cheated him by informing the police. Unlike Horace, she was clever, selfish, and dishonest. She used lies and cunningness to achieve her purpose. Therefore, it was the lady who lacked honour in the story. She showed that crime and betrayal often go hand in hand.

2. At times we keep on planning things but our plans fail, we are not always responsible for the failure. Explain with reference to the story ‘A Question of Trust’.

Horace Danby was a careful planner. He studied the house, timed his robbery for the owner’s absence, and prepared everything properly. But despite his planning, his robbery failed because of an unexpected situation. The lady in red entered the house and tricked him by pretending to be the owner’s wife. Horace trusted her words and helped her open the safe. In the end, it was she who stole the jewels, and Horace was caught by the police. This shows that sometimes, even if we plan carefully, things may not go as expected because of circumstances beyond our control. Horace’s failure was not only due to his mistake but also because he was outsmarted by someone cleverer.

3. “Lying and stealing are next door neighbours”. Comment.

The proverb means that lying and stealing are closely related, and one usually leads to the other. In the story, Horace Danby was not completely honest. He loved books but chose the wrong path of stealing to buy them. Similarly, the lady in red used lies to carry out her theft. She pretended to be the owner’s wife, tricked Horace into opening the safe, and ran away with the jewels. Both characters show how lying and stealing go together. Once a person starts lying, it becomes easy to steal, cheat, or deceive others. The story proves that dishonesty, whether through lying or stealing, always leads to problems in the end.

4. Our sins never go unpunished. Horace Danby ultimately had to go to prison. This shows that inspite of planning a crime intelligently and carefully a criminal can’t escape the law—discuss.

Horace Danby was intelligent and a careful planner. He planned the robbery at Shotover Grange in detail. He even knew when the servants went out. Yet, his crime did not succeed. The lady in red tricked him into opening the safe, and then she betrayed him by reporting to the police. Horace was arrested and sent to prison. His punishment shows that crime, no matter how small or well-planned, always has consequences. A criminal may escape once or twice, but sooner or later, he will be caught. Horace’s fate proves that our sins never go unpunished, and honesty is always better than cleverness or crime.

5. How did the lady in red turn out to be smarter than Horace Danby?

The lady in red was very clever and quick-witted. She pretended to be the owner’s wife and caught Horace red-handed while robbing the house. She did not get frightened but used the situation smartly. By talking sweetly, she convinced Horace to open the safe for her. She promised not to call the police if he obeyed her. Horace trusted her completely and did as she said. Later, she took the jewels and betrayed Horace by informing the police. Thus, she proved to be much smarter than Horace. While Horace depended on careful planning, the lady’s cleverness and presence of mind helped her succeed without effort.

6. Did you begin to suspect, before the end of the story, that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be? If so, at what point did you realize this, and how?

Yes, the suspicion arises when the lady in red enters the story. Normally, an owner’s wife would call the police immediately on finding a thief in her house. But this lady behaved very calmly and even asked Horace to open the safe for her. This behaviour was unusual and made her seem suspicious. She had no fear of Horace and spoke confidently, which did not suit her role. Later, when she easily tricked Horace into obeying her, it became clear that she was not the real owner’s wife but another thief. Her cleverness, quick thinking, and unusual reaction gave early hints about her real identity.

7. “Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest”. Why do you think this description is apt for Horace? Why can’t he be categorized as a typical thief?

Horace Danby was not a typical thief because he lived like a respectable man. He was about fifty, unmarried, and made locks for a living. He was kind to his housekeeper and loved books. However, he was not completely honest. Once every year, he planned a robbery to buy expensive books. He thought stealing only once a year did not make him a bad person. Unlike a typical thief, he did not harm anyone or steal regularly. But still, he was dishonest because he broke the law. This description is apt because Horace had good qualities but was not truthful. His weakness for books pushed him towards crime.

8. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?

Horace Danby was very careful in planning the robbery at Shotover Grange. He timed the servants’ absence, carried his tools, and even wore gloves to avoid fingerprints. Yet, he failed because he trusted the wrong person. The lady in red tricked him by pretending to be the owner’s wife. She used his fear of prison to control him and made him open the safe. Horace believed her lies without verifying anything. This was his biggest mistake. His careful planning failed because he did not plan for unexpected events or for human cleverness. He went wrong because he trusted appearances and was outsmarted by someone more cunning.