Q. ‘Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest.’ Is this an apt description of Horace? If yes, why?
Ans. Yes, Horace was good but not completely honest. He loved expensive books. So, he stole once a year. He was not aggressive by nature but only submissive as seen in the case of the lady thief in red.
Q. What was Horace Danby’s hobby? How did he manage to fulfil it?
Ans. Horace Danby was not an ordinary thief. He loved rare and expensive books. So, he robbed a safe every year and through an agent secretly bought the books he loved. Each year, he planned carefully just what he would do.
Q. How did Danby prepare for the robbery at Shotover Grange?
Ans. Danby studied the complete situation of the house, i.e., electric wiring, paths and garden. He collected information about the family. He knew all the movements of the servants. He always kept his tools ready.
Q. Who robbed Shotover Grange? Whom did the police arrest and why?
Ans. Actually it was the lady-in-red who robbed the Shotover Grange. The police arrested Horace Danby because his finger prints were found all over the room and on the safe. Nobody believed him when he said that the owner lady asked him to do so.
Q. Horace Danby was interested in the books, not in the painting. Why?
Ans. Horace Danby was fond of reading the rare type of books. For a moment, he thought to collect paintings from the small house but he could not, as the books were better in that small house.
Q. Horace sneezed. Why did he do it?
Ans. Horace did not sneeze deliberately, rather he suffered from an attack of hay fever. There was a big bowl of flowers kept in the drawing room that caused him to sneeze. He buried his face in his handkerchief.
Q. What went wrong when Horace Danby robbed at Shotover Grange?
Ans. While Horace Danby was inside the house, the lady in red came and announced that she was the owner of the house. Her appearance was such that he was fooled. She asked him to open the safe for her. Horace left his finger prints all over there. Hence, he was arrested.
Q. Describe the lady in red.
Ans. She was a young and smart thief. She was very graceful, resourceful and impressive. She spoke to Horace in an authoritative voice as if she was the mistress of the house. She was very intelligent. She was able to outsmart Danby easily. She not only robbed at Shotover Grange but also Danby Horace
Q. Why was Horace arrested when he had not stolen anything?
Ans. Horace was arrested because his finger prints were all around the safe since he had opened the safe bare-handed. He told that the landlady had asked him to open the safe. No one believed his story. The real lady of the house was an old lady of sixty. The young lady was another thief.
Q. How does the ‘lady in red’ outsmarts Horace Danby at Shotover Grange?
Ans. Horace Danby as usual had planned the robbery at shotover Grange meticulously. At the place of the robber, unexpectedly, he confronts a lady dressed in red attire. She carries herself with an air of authority giving the impression as if she is the lady of the house. She threatens horace to call police. Horace keep pleading to be let off and admits that he steals only rich people for a good reason to which the lady laughs. She finally agrees to let go Horace only if he opens the safe for her as she needed the jewels for the night party. The lady besides being smart is cool and composed, takes advantage of Horace’s mental state. She takes out a cigarette and instantly Horace in his eagerness to please her takes of his gloves before offering her his lighter. While breaking the safe Horace forgets to wear his gloves. He hands over the jewels to the lady before walking out of the house. But Horace’s freedom is short lived as he is caught by the police on the basis of the fingerprints found at Shotover Grange. No doubt the lady in red had totally outwitted Horace hands down.