Dear Maggie,

My husband and our seventeen-year-old son don’t get along well as it is, and now it’s reached a crisis point. Last week my husband, who plays in a small band, played at an event, and each of the band members was given $100 in cash as payment. My husband says he came home and put the money into his dresser drawer. The next day the money was gone. My husband and I had been out, and our son had been alone in the house.

So my husband believes our son took the money.

Our son has never stolen from us before, and he insists he is innocent. My husband is demanding to know who I’m going to believe, him or our son. If I love him, he says, I’ll believe him.

I don’t know what to do, so I’m writing to you for advice. Please help.

Signed,

Torn

Dear Torn,

It’s a delicate situation, to be sure. But let’s look at the facts. Did anyone see your husband put the money in the drawer? Apparently not, so there’s no proof he actually did so. Did anyone see your son take the money? Apparently not, so there’s no proof he actually did so. The rule of thumb in law is that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty and there’s no proof here.