Duck taken by each female thief (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
tea leaf
'thief' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'duck taken by each female' is the wordplay.
'duck' becomes 'teal' (teal is a type of duck).
'taken by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'each' becomes 'ea' (abbreviation).
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'teal'+'ea'+'f'='TEA-LEAF'
(Other definitions for tea leaf that I've seen before include "Light-fingered East Ender" , "Darjeeling?" , "Beat; sell" , "Cockney crook" , "One taking" .)