Dear Prudence,
I live with a housemate in an apartment that is across the hall from someone who seems to travel for work (she is frequently gone for long periods, not really our business). Often our neighbor will receive packages that will sit at her door for days or even over a week. This normally isn’t a problem as you can’t see our doors unless you are visiting one of the two apartments. We leave her packages alone and she gets them when she gets home. This weekend, however, my housemate had her sister over.
After her sister left, the package on our neighbors doorstep was gone and the wrapping was in our trash. Her sister stole the package and refuses to admit it or give it back. My housemate and I have agreed that her sister is no longer welcome to visit our place, but I don’t know how to address this with the neighbor. She hasn’t been home yet but I’m considering when she is home to go over, explain what happened, and then send her the cost of replacing the items. But I’m worried it will cause bad blood between us if she doesn’t want to or the cost is more than a couple hundred dollars. What should I do?