Detailed N-vestigations

I've been reading Encyclopedia Brown stories to the kids.  They get all excited about figuring out the mini-mystery of the eveing, though usually they usually get a little over-the-top in their clue hunting.  I'll have barely finished the first sentence of a given story (e.g. "Encyclopedia Brown lived in Idaville.") and my sleuths in training will already be declaring beyond a shadow of a doubt that the statement is a lie and tantamount to the first clue.  But I have to hand it to them - they have learned to pick apart every little detail and consider it's merits.  Generally their considerations are way out in left field, but at least its out of the box (or ballpark) thinking.

Tonight after the story they were particularly amped up.  N kept making up "solutions" and trying to get people to figure them out.  They were mostly nonsense, but they were taken very serious by Mr. N.  When they were finally sent to their rooms the cross-room chatter went on and on, N quizzing L on hypotheticals, L giving her conclusions, and N declaring her correct or not.

"Good night, N," I called down the hall, but the verbal stream from under the covers continued unabated.  L gave up answering, but N did not feel much inclination to give up quizzing.

"Good night!" I repeated a few minutes later with a little more bellow to my voice.  I looked at Stacy in disbelief as the jabbering continued.  Finally I got up and walked down the hall to N's room where he sprang bolt up-right in bed on seeing me in the doorway.

"Daddy!  Come cuddle with me.  I have a really hard solution for you!"  Unable to be as mean and grouchy as I wanted to be, I said, OK, but he would have to go to sleep right afterwards.  I lay down beside him on the bed and he began to tell me his "solution."

"Daddy, once I was all alone in my room and I had 10 doughnuts.  The next thing I knew, there were only 5 doughnuts!  What happened?!?"

"Hmmm," I thought, knowing I didn't stand a chance at guessing whatever utterly random nonsequitor of a solution he had in mind for this particular puzzle.  So I winged it.

"You were in your room with the doughnuts, but you weren't paying very close attention and when you weren't looking, Daddy snuck in and ate 5 of your doughnuts!"

"Very good, Daddy.  You were very close, but you weren't quite right.  Try again."  I didn't want to try again and told him so, and said it would really be better for everyone if he just told me the answer.

"OK," he sighed, as though grievously disappointed that his Dad wasn't a team player.  "The clue was that I said I was alone.  Nobody can sneak in if you're really alone.  So if I was all alone, what could have happened to the doughnuts?"

I gave him a sidelong look.  "You ate them?"

"Very good, Daddy!  You figured it out!  That was a very hard one.  You did very well."

"Thanks, son," I said, not wanting to bask in my glory, "but it's time you went to sleep."  I gave him a peck on the cheek and got up to leave.

"OK Daddy," he acquiesced.  "But I figured out another solution."

"And what is that?"

"When you say 'good night,' you mean 'be quiet.'"

The kid's a genius.