Summary
A Question of Trust by Victor Canning is about Horace Danby, a fifty-year-old locksmith and successful businessman. Although he was a respectable man, he was not entirely honest, as he would steal once a year to fund his love for rare and expensive books. This time, he targeted a house called Shotover Grange, carefully planning the burglary over two weeks.

When he attempted the burglary, he found the house empty, with the family in London and the caretakers out for a movie. Horace let himself in, taking care to wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, and he disabled the alarm. As he was about to open the safe, he was surprised by a young woman in red who claimed to be the owner’s wife. She convinced Horace to open the safe, saying she needed her jewels for a party but had forgotten the safe’s combination.

Fearing she might report him, Horace agreed and opened the safe without gloves, leaving fingerprints behind. The woman took the jewels, and Horace left, thinking he was free. However, three days later, he was arrested because his fingerprints were found at the scene. He tried to explain that he had only opened the safe for the woman, but no one believed him, as the real owner’s wife was much older.

It turns out the young woman was also a thief who had tricked Horace into doing the hard work of opening the safe. Horace was sentenced to prison, where he became an assistant librarian. He often thought bitterly of the cunning woman who had deceived him and would become angry at the phrase “honor among thieves.”

This story teaches the lesson that we should not trust people blindly without knowing their true intentions.