Missing dollar — dragon570

There is no missing dollar at all in this situation because the writer tells the audience they paid $30, although the meal was only $25.00. Ergo, the $5.00 that the cashier returns to the waiter is split between the waiter and the three ladies. The waiter returns a $1.00 to each lady and stole $2.00 for himself. The three ladies didn’t put $9.00 each on the table because it’s impossible to pay  a $25.00 bill evenly among each other.