A question of trust by Victor Canning
Summary
Horace Danby had a good reputation in the society. He was about fifty and unmarried. He made locks and had two helpers. He loved rare and expensive books. Horace robbed a safe every year to find money for purchasing the books. He was now out on committing another robbery.
For two weeks Horace had studied the house of Shotover Grange. Horace Danby entered the house through the kitchen . there was a flowerpot in the drawing room. Horace was allergic to dust and pollen from flowers ; he started sneezing. Then he heard a voice. The voice told him that he could cure the sneeze. It was the voice of a woman. She stood in the doorway. She was young and pretty. His first thought was to run. The lady told him that she would telephone the police. She would tell them about him. Horace Danby told her to let him go and forget she ever saw him. The lady put one condition for letting Horace go.
She told him that she had promised her husband to take her jewels to the bank. She had, however, left jewels in the safe. She told him that she wanted to wear the jewels in a party that night. She came down to get them. But she had forgotten the number to open the safe . So she needed his help to open the safe. Horace thought that she was the owner of the house and opened the safe for her after removing his gloves.
After two days a policeman arrested him for the jewel robbery at Shotover Grange . Danby’s fingerprints were found all over the place. He had opened the safe without gloves. He told the police that the landlady of the house asked him to open the safe. But the owner of the house turned out to be 60 year old woman and not the pretty women in red dress who asked him to open the safe .She was a thief who tricked him to believe that she is the owner of the house. The old lady was the real owner; she said that Danby's story is nonsense.
Horace is now in prison. He often thinks of the charming and clever young lady who turned out to be just another thief. She had simply tricked him. Danby gets angry when anyone talks about “honour among thieves”.
Questions & Answers
Q1 . 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 realise this, and how?
It is difficult to guess before the story ends. The incidence of the lady calming the dog gives some hint but it is not strong enough. Her statement of getting the safe repaired can make some reader to think but this can be also be a case of fear of a strict husband.
Q2. What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the lady of the house? Why doesn’t Horace suspect that something is wrong?
Her confident walk, her act of touching up her make-up and the ease with which she picks cigarette from the right place are enough to deceive anybody. Horace was too frightened to think properly so he didn’t suspect anything.
Q3. “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 categorised as a typical thief?
Danby’s habits were not typical of a thief. He was fond of books. He used to steal only once in a year to get some money to buy the expensive books he liked to read. so he was never stealing more than his needs. Act of theft is still a crime no matter how good the intentions and behaviour of a thief . So Danby can’t be termed as completely honest. He is not a regular offender like other thieves so he can’t be categorized as a typical thief.
Q.4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Horace Danby failed to get enough information about real occupants of the house. He seems to be too occupied with collecting information about house map, wiring and location of valuable things. Although he was smart enough to know the dog’s name but overlooked getting identity of each and every occupants of the house. He went wrong in getting carried away by the young woman and her story of forgetting the combination of the safe and opening the safe without gloves.
Q.5. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished ,or that he deserved what he got?
I think that he got what he deserved. A crime is a crime no matter how good the intention of the thief is. His reputation in society does not justify his act. After all a thief is a thief.
What is the profession of Horace Danby?
He made locks.
Where was Horace fifteen years ago?
He was in the prison library fifteen years ago.
What was his hobby?
He loves to read rare and expensive books.
Why did he rob a safe every year?
He robs a safe every year in order to buy some rare and expensive books to fulfil his hobby.
How much worth of jewels were there in the Grange`s safe?
There were about fifteen thousand pounds worth of jewels in the grange safe.
Who is Sherry?: Sherry is the pet dog at Shotover`s house.
What is the best way to keep the dog quiet?
The best way to keep the dog quiet is to call them by their right and to show them love.
Where was the safe?
The safe was hidden in the drawing room, behind a painting.
Who came while he was about to open the safe?
The another lady of the same profession as his pretending herself as the owner the house came there.
Why did Horace take off his gloves?
In order to please the lady and seeing her that she might help him, took-off his gloves to light her cigarette with his lighter.
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