The Illegible Order
Sunday, July 17th, 2016On a cool winter’s day, at the famous French restaurant Chez Clouseau in New York, an order was made by phone for an upcoming event to be held later that week by the Bacchus wine club in the cave of the restaurant. The order consisted of packages of special long-burning, scented candles for eleven tables each seating eight persons, one package per guest.
The order was made by phone by garçon Laquais who wrote down the details of the order on a napkin with a magic marker low on ink, as he was in a hurry to serve a table with a flirty girl and could not find a notepad.
When the order was to be registered by the maitre d’ Pierre, it had become illegible as some red wine had been spilled on the napkin by the careless Laquais. All that could be seen was *12.7*, presumably the order total.
Pierre was furious as the order had to be entered into the system rapidly before it could be confirmed, shouting French expletives and shaking his fist at Laquais.
Fortunately for Pierre a sympathetic mathematician named Leonard noticed the commotion and came over to offer some help. Pierre explained the situation with the order.
After looking at the wine-stained napkin for a little while, Leonard wrote down the details of the order on a slip torn from a small notebook he carried with him, and handed it to an astounded Pierre with a slight Gallic bow.
What was the total price and the price per candle package Leonard noted down?