Detailed Summary of The Question of Trust by Victor Canning
The Question of Trust is an
interesting and suspenseful story that revolves around a clever thief named
Horace Danby and a mysterious young woman who outsmarts him. The story explores
themes such as trust, deception, crime, intelligence, and irony. It also raises
an important question: Can a thief trust another thief?
Horace
Danby: A Respectable but Dishonest Man
At the beginning of the story, Horace
Danby appears to be a respectable and honest citizen. He is about fifty years
old, unmarried, and lives with a housekeeper who takes care of him. He owns a
successful lock-making business and employs two assistants. People in the community
regard him as a decent and trustworthy man.
However, beneath this respectable
appearance lies a secret. Horace is not completely honest. Fifteen years
earlier, he had served a prison sentence for theft. Unlike ordinary criminals
who steal for luxury or pleasure, Horace steals because of his passion for
collecting rare and expensive books. He loves books so much that every year he
plans and executes one carefully organized robbery. The money obtained from
these robberies is used to buy valuable books through an agent. Thus, he
considers himself different from common thieves.
Planning the
Robbery
Horace is a highly intelligent and
meticulous (careful) planner. He spends weeks studying the houses he intends to
rob. This year, his target is Shotover
Grange, a large country house containing valuable jewels worth about
fifteen thousand pounds. Horace believes that he can sell the jewels gradually
and earn around five thousand pounds, which will be enough to support his
book-buying hobby for another year.
For two weeks, he carefully observes
the house, its rooms, the electric wiring, the garden, and the movements of the
servants. He learns that the family is staying in London and only two servants
remain at the house. On the chosen afternoon, he watches the servants leave for
the cinema. Confident that the house is empty, he decides to carry out his
plan.
Entering the
House
Horace comes out from behind the
garden wall carrying a bag of burglary tools. He has noticed that the
housekeeper usually hangs the kitchen key outside the door. Wearing gloves to
avoid leaving fingerprints, he takes the key and quietly enters the house.
Inside, he encounters a small dog
named Sherry. Horace knows that dogs often respond affectionately when called
by their names. Since he has gathered detailed information about the house, he
knows the dog's name and easily keeps it calm.
The safe he intends to rob is hidden
behind a painting in the drawing room. Horace admires the valuable jewels
stored inside and begins preparing his tools. He estimates that he has about
four hours before the servants return.
The
Unexpected Visitor
As Horace starts his work, his hay
fever begins troubling him. The flowers in the room make him sneeze repeatedly.
While he is trying to control his sneezing, he suddenly hears a woman's voice
from the doorway asking whether he has a cold or hay fever.
Startled, Horace turns around and
sees a young, attractive woman dressed in red. She appears calm and confident.
Instead of screaming or calling for help, she speaks politely and even
discusses hay fever with him. This unusual reaction surprises Horace.
The woman tells him that she did not
expect to meet a burglar in her house. Horace replies that he did not expect to
meet one of the family members either. Their conversation continues in a
surprisingly friendly manner.
The Woman
Gains Control
The woman cleverly takes charge of
the situation. When Horace suggests running away, she points out that she could
simply call the police. Horace tries to frighten her by saying that he would
cut the telephone wires and prevent her from contacting anyone, but he quickly
admits that he has no intention of hurting her.
The woman then begins to show
sympathy toward him. She listens as Horace explains that he steals only from
wealthy people and that he is terrified of going to prison again. She seems
touched by his honesty and says that she has always liked the wrong kind of
people.
Gradually, Horace begins to trust
her. He believes that she understands him and may even help him escape
punishment.
The Clever
Trick
The woman then presents a problem.
She claims that before leaving for London, she had promised her husband that
she would place her jewels in the bank. However, she forgot to do so and left
them in the safe. Now she wants to wear them at a party that evening but cannot
remember the combination numbers needed to open the safe.
She asks
Horace for help.
Since Horace is an expert in locks
and safes, he confidently offers to open it for her. He assures her that he can
do the job quickly, even though the safe may be damaged in the process. The
woman says that this does not matter because her husband will not return for a
month.
Feeling grateful and relieved, Horace
agrees immediately. He believes that by helping her he will earn his freedom
and avoid arrest.
Horace Makes
a Fatal Mistake
To assist the woman, Horace removes
his gloves and uses his bare hands while opening the safe. Within an hour, he
successfully unlocks it and hands over the valuable jewels.
The woman thanks him, takes the
jewels, and allows him to leave. Horace walks away feeling delighted. He thinks
he has escaped danger and perhaps even formed an unusual friendship with a kind
and understanding woman.
For the next two days, he keeps his
promise not to commit any more thefts. However, thoughts of the rare books he
wants to buy soon tempt him again. He begins considering another robbery.
The Shocking
Arrest
Before Horace can make any new plans,
a policeman arrives and arrests him for the theft of the jewels from Shotover Grange.
Horace is shocked. He insists that he
did not steal the jewels and explains that the lady of the house asked him to
open the safe for her. Unfortunately, no one believes his story.
The police discover his fingerprints
all over the safe and the room because he had removed his gloves while helping
the woman. This provides strong evidence against him.
When the actual wife of the owner is
questioned, she turns out to be a sixty-year-old gray-haired woman with a sharp
tongue—not the young, attractive lady Horace had met. She declares that
Horace's story is completely absurd.
The Truth
Revealed
Horace finally realizes the truth.
The young woman was not the lady of the house at all. She was a professional
thief who had cleverly deceived him.
By pretending to be the owner of the
house, she manipulated Horace into opening the safe for her. She then escaped
with the jewels while leaving behind evidence that pointed directly to Horace.
In effect, she used one thief to commit the robbery and then allowed him to
take the blame.
The woman displayed extraordinary
intelligence, confidence, and psychological skill. She quickly understood
Horace's fears and weaknesses and used them against him. His desire to avoid
prison and his trust in her led to his downfall.
The Ironical
Ending
The story ends with Horace back in
prison, working as an assistant librarian. This position suits his love of
books, but it is a painful reminder of his failure.
He often thinks about the beautiful
and clever woman who tricked him. Whenever people mention the saying “There is
honour among thieves,” Horace becomes angry because his experience proves
otherwise. Instead of loyalty or honesty, he encountered deception and betrayal
from someone in the same profession.
Conclusion
The Question of Trust is a
fascinating tale of crime and irony. Horace Danby is not a typical criminal; he
is intelligent, cultured, and careful. Yet his overconfidence and misplaced
trust lead to his defeat. The young woman proves even more clever than he is
and successfully turns him into an unwilling accomplice.
The story teaches that appearances
can be deceptive and that trust must be given cautiously. It also humorously
challenges the idea that criminals share loyalty or honour among themselves. In
the end, the thief who thought he was outsmarting everyone is himself outwitted
by another thief, making the story both entertaining and memorable.
