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agonyaunt2026-03-07 09:16 am
petrea_mitchell) wrote in agonyaunt2026-03-07 09:16 am
Entry tags:
Miss Manners investigates a crime
Miss Manners: Items vanish post‑party, and list of possible culprits is down to 3. How do I proceed?
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I hosted a dinner party for 20 guests. Since a few of them smoke, I had arranged a separate room to function as a smoking room.
After the party, I discovered that a very small painting and a little sculpture were missing from the smoking room. Neither of them is really valuable, even sentimentally, but it still has left me very distraught.
There is no other way that these items could have disappeared except being taken by someone. Only three guests were ever in that room.
Now, what do I do? I have not mentioned this to anyone, since it undoubtedly would make everyone uncomfortable and lead to speculations about who took the things. I’d rather just forget about the whole thing, but if something similar happens in someone else’s home, I will feel guilty for not having said anything.
GENTLE READER: You could tell the three of them that you misplaced the items and wanted to verify if they had seen them when they were there.
This would fool exactly no one, but it would put the perpetrator on notice that you are onto them without any direct accusations. Which is what, it seems to Miss Manners, you wish to accomplish.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I hosted a dinner party for 20 guests. Since a few of them smoke, I had arranged a separate room to function as a smoking room.
After the party, I discovered that a very small painting and a little sculpture were missing from the smoking room. Neither of them is really valuable, even sentimentally, but it still has left me very distraught.
There is no other way that these items could have disappeared except being taken by someone. Only three guests were ever in that room.
Now, what do I do? I have not mentioned this to anyone, since it undoubtedly would make everyone uncomfortable and lead to speculations about who took the things. I’d rather just forget about the whole thing, but if something similar happens in someone else’s home, I will feel guilty for not having said anything.
GENTLE READER: You could tell the three of them that you misplaced the items and wanted to verify if they had seen them when they were there.
This would fool exactly no one, but it would put the perpetrator on notice that you are onto them without any direct accusations. Which is what, it seems to Miss Manners, you wish to accomplish.
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