The story is rich in irony and humour. The central irony is that Horace, a careful, meticulous burglar, is himself tricked and robbed by another thief — a woman posing as the lady of the house. He removes his gloves to light her cigarette, leaving fingerprints everywhere, undoing all his careful planning. Humour arises when he politely answers "Hay fever" to the stranger mid-burglary, and in the final irony: the man who feared prison ends up there anyway, now bitterly dismissing the idea of "honour among thieves."
Source: A Question of Trust, Chapter 4
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Examiners look for two clear points — one on irony, one on humour — with textual evidence for each. The key ironic moments are: (1) the thief being tricked by a fellow thief, and (2) his fingerprints being his undoing after he was so careful with gloves. The humour lies in the absurd politeness of the hay fever exchange and his belief that he had "persuaded" her. Always end with the final irony about "honour among thieves" — it ties back to the epigraph and scores well.