Horace Danby: A Businessman and an Unusual Thief
Horace Danby had a good reputation in society. He was about fifty years old and unmarried. He ran a business of making locks and had two helpers. But Horace was not totally honest. He loved rare and expensive books. Horace robbed a safe every year to finance his expensive hobby. He was now going for committing a robbery.
Horace Plans a Theft
For two weeks Horace had studied the country house at Shotover Grange, whose owners normally lived in London. He wanted to burgle (enter illegally for a crime) the jewellery lying in the safe in this house. Horace entered the house when the servants were away. He had an allergy to flowers called hay fever. He started sneezing. Then he heard a lady's voice. She told him a cure for the sneeze.
Horace Meets a Young and Pretty Lady
Then a young and pretty lady appeared in the doorway. She was young and pretty. His first thought was to run, as the lady told him that she would telephone the police. Horace told her to let him go and forget she ever saw him.
Lady's Condition for Horace's Freedom
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 the jewels in the safe, as she wanted to wear the jewels in a party that night. She came down to get them, but had forgotten the number combination to open the safe. So she needed his help to break open the safe. So Horace opened the safe for her and handed her the jewels to get his freedom.
Horace Got Arrested
After two days a policeman arrested him for the jewel robbery at Shotover Grange. Horace's
fingerprints were found all over the room. He had opened the safe without using his gloves. He told the police that the lady of the house had told him to open the safe. But the actual lady was a sixty-year-old woman. She said that Horace's story was nonsense. Then Horace realised that the pretty young woman was also a jewel thief who had used his skill to steal the jewels.
Horace is now assistant librarian in prison. He often thinks of the charming and clever young lady. She was in the same profession as him. She had simply tricked him. So he gets angry when anyone talks about "honour among thieves.
Conclusion of A Question of Trust
In the chapter - A Question of Trust focuses on the message for students that we should not trust anyone blindly without finding out the truth about that person.