With the arrival of child number three, we broke down and hired a helper about six months ago. After numerous interviews I finally found a transfer maid whose last two families raved about her. They both said they trusted her implicitly. True to her reputation, the helper is wonderful, except that I suspect she may be stealing cash.
During her second week a hong bao I had stashed between books on a shelf went missing. It had been there for months and I had recently checked it. My husband thought I was crazy as she would never stumble over it there amidst the other bookshelves in the room. Then I noticed small amounts of money I left in pockets (a bad habit of mine) going off to the laundry and not being returned. Then we got a second hong bao when the baby was born with four hundred+ dollars in cash that I had left on my bedroom cabinet for a couple of weeks before moving it inside an old datebook, where I did not check on it for over a month. When I went to get it, it was gone.
I e-mailed the former employer and asked if she’d ever had anything go missing as I thought she could be taking the money. She said absolutely not, and that she never would have transferred her if she so much as suspected that, and that she was completely trustworthy.
With the only two envelopes of cash I had already gone and me being careful not to leave money in my pockets anymore, I didn’t notice anything for awhile. Then one day I forgot my wallet and went to use the emergency cash I always keep in the glove compartment in the car, which is about $15-20, along with coins I throw in there. To my great dismay, it was gone, even the coins. Had I spent it and forgot? Later I put three two dollar bills in there and decided to watch them. Three days later, four dollars had been taken, two was left.
In spite of all this, I keep trying to think of other possibilities. The house we live in is for sale so there have been groups of buyers in and out. We have pest control in when I am not here, and have had the air con serviced. My kids have never touched money even when it’s lying around, and I can tell they had no idea what I was even talking about when I attempted to ask them. My husband says I just need to stop leave money lying around, and neither one of us really wants to get rid of this maid because she is good and we like her. The helper helped me look for the missing $400 hong bao, but it never turned up.
Has anyone had an experience like this? Is it worth directly confronting the maid? I feel like if she did take it she certainly won’t admit it, and unless we plan to fire her I’m not sure what will be gained from accusing her except for tension.
