Missing £50 candle- is it my cleaner?

[MotherHen3]

So had a really rotten few weeks at work and as a treat my husband bought me a really extravagant scented candle ...brought home and opened--wonderful smell filled whole house- 2 days later - it was gone.....This was on a day I had builders downstairs and an electrician in the house and 2 delivery men and my ( female ) cleaner who has worked for me for about 3 years....

I have turned the house upside down looking for this in the hope that someone had broken it- rather than being stolenbut it was big- and not easily mislaid my husband says I am overreacting but it has totally freaked me out to think someone in my house has stolen from me---he also says there is no way a man would steal a candle.....

I have asked everyone about it and all know nothing I have told the cleaner that I spend all weekend looking for the candle ( true ) and that I am really upset as it was a present from my husband-I hoped this might make it re-appear!

I have had previous issues with cleaner asking to borrow money from me which I did on one occasion as she said she was desperate ( and a good cleaner in an area where hard to get a cleaner )but she then started asking to borrow more money and then asking me to pay her 2 weeks in advance etc etc as she was desperate.....

I have also recently reduced halved her hours as we had ongoing building work and dust which has now finished- so gone back to usual hours---which she was not happy about.....


I have no evidence at all re the candle so don't see how I can accuse her of anything-but builders have been on site for 6 months with no problems
and as my husband says- surely they would nick something better than a candle ( even though it was especially lovely!)

...it is literally driving me nuts trying to work out where it has gone ( have turned house upside down ) and who would have taken it

...I am starting to think it can only be a woman and that maybe it wasn't just about nicking something- but a bit of a revenge thing for me halving my cleaners hours....but I have no evidence so don't see how I can sack her....thoughts gratefully received--I value trustworthiness above all else as I am a really private person and actually find it difficult having someone in my house to clean but have got used to her over 3 years ( I work full time and have 4 children so need a cleaner)

[MrsRyanGosling15]

Well that God for that! He kept denying it was that price but he does buy some ridiculous stuff sometimes. OK, I can now light the candle again,I could hardly look at the thing today! Although tbh, it has nothing on my Yankee.

[Mynameisdominoharvey]

Maybe DH broke it accidentally and rather than fess up to breaking the gift, decided that because only a woman would steal a scented candle he could shift the blame on to the cleaner instead. But I agree with evergreen I'd be starting with the kids not the cleaner.

[SomeDaysIDontGiveAMonkeys]

Katie85 Wow! Are you for real??????

[AppleSetsSail]

Please don't ask your cleaner if she has addiction issues. I expect she isn't making enough money to make ends meet. You could of course help her with a budget.

Just kidding.

[Squills]

Could the electrician have taken it to light a darkened area while he had the power off to carry out work? Have you checked the loft? As others have said, the smell should make it obvious if its still in the house.

[RuggerHug]

OP is never coming back to tell us how it ended, is she?

[ConcreteUnderpants]

Won't somebody think of the children!?

Some of us did.
We think they did it.

Lweji

[Yooneecorngirl]

Oh to be only worried about a lost candle. I cannot wait for those days to come.

[Ldnmum2015]

What if there was a power cut and one of the workman lit it thinking I was just a candle, then left it to burn somewhere. As for your cleaner, as someone who is self employed, when customers increase or decrease hours, it can be a bit annoying as you have to reschedule your diary, if she is asking to borrow money it may be her hinting you are not paying her enough. Sometimes increase in hours from low paying customers who are blocking you from finding higher paying customers can be just as much annoying as customers who decrease hours, which may be why she was upset. If you are not feeling appreciative of her work then let her go, but not under a cloud of a false accusation of theft.