Riddle Me This - the Answer!

The riddle from the March '08 issue of the NSSLHA newsletter:

"3 men are going on a business trip. They decide that in order to save money, they are going to share a room. One man goes to the front desk and asks how much a room is. The front desk attendant replies $30. The businessman collects $10 from each of his co-workers and they pay for the room and go upstairs. Shortly after, the front desk attendant realizes that he made a mistake; the room was only $26! He gives the $4 to the bellboy and tells him to run it up to the guys room. The bellboy knows that it will not be easy to split up $4, so he puts $1 in his pocket, and gives $1 back to each of the 3 business men ($3). Therefore, each man paid $9 for the room… 9x3= 27, The bellhop put $1 in his pocket…. 27+1=28
So, where did the rest of the original $30 go?"

The answer:

This is a very old and misleading question. Of the original $30, we know exactly where it all went: $26 went to the hotel, $1 went to the bellhop and $3 went back to the guys in the room. The mistake lies in saying that each man paid $9 for the room. They did not each pay $9 for the room, rather they each paid $10 for the combined cost of the room, the $1 that the bellhop kept and the $3 that they received. $27-$1=$26, which is the price of the room, and $26+$1+$3=$30, which is the total amount of money involved. There is no missing part.

hehe =)