Responsibility taken after wife stole (4)
I believe the answer is:
wrap
'stole' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'responsibility taken after wife' is the wordplay.
'responsibility taken' becomes 'rap' (as in the phrase 'take the rap').
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'rap' put after 'w' is 'WRAP'.
(Other definitions for wrap that I've seen before include "package" , "Swathe" , "Stole - parcel" , "Flatbread snack" , "Enclose in paper or material" .)