DISAPPEARING MONEY: MATHEMATICAL CONUNDRUM
OR NEW SCAM?

Recently, THE UNCOVEROR sent three staff members to Horse Branch, Arkansas. They were to investigate a rash of bizarre livestock birth defects, including a two-headed calf, and Siamese triplet piglets. The Horse Branch Inn, the only motel in town, had only one room available.  The three men had to share it. They were initially told that the room would cost thirty dollars. Each man gave the clerk ten. After a while, the clerk realized that he had overcharged them. The actual price of the room was twenty six dollars. He instructed the cleaning lady to take our investigative team their money back, totaling four dollars. She realized that she could not divide four dollars evenly among three men. They decided to let her keep one as a tip. Each man got back one dollar.

At first nothing seemed strange, but the more staff writer, Randolph Carter Smith thought about it, he was sure something did not add up. Initially, each man had paid ten dollars for the room, 10+10+10=30

 

After they had their refunds, each man had paid nine dollars for the room. 9+9+9=27

They tipped the cleaning lady one dollar. 27+1=28!

There were supposed to be thirty. Two dollars were missing. We have racked our brains trying to figure this out. Smith thinks this is a curious mathematical conundrum that a mathematician could probably explain. His partners; Investigator, Randall Johnson and photographer, William Power are sure this is some kind of new scam being run by motel owners. They want an explanation of where the two dollars went. The team was so dismayed, and confused that they forgot to investigate the mutant livestock! We are hoping our readers can help us figure out just what is going on here. 

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