Some advice please

Hello all,

I could really do with some advice on a subject I don’t feel comfortable discussing with family or friends.

I now live alone and am in my mid-60s. I recently had a decorator in to do some painting around the house. I mostly left him to get on with the work and did go out a few times while he was in the property.

At the time, I didn’t think too much of it, but one morning when I was getting dressed, I noticed that the knickers in the top drawer of my bedroom unit seemed to have been moved slightly. I dismissed it at the time. However, yesterday, when I was doing the washing and putting things away, I realised that a small pair of white knickers — which I wear under pale trousers — was missing.

I have looked everywhere. I am sure I put them in the laundry basket last week after wearing them. I have no evidence at all, but I now cannot stop wondering whether the decorator may have looked in my underwear drawer and possibly taken them from the laundry basket.

This is not something I have ever experienced before, and I feel very uneasy about it. He is due to return later this week to continue the work, and I now feel deeply uncomfortable about letting him back into the house.

Has anyone else ever come across anything like this? Am I overthinking it, or can this sort of thing happen? I would be grateful for any sensible advice on how to handle it.