Little billy was out trick or treating on halloween. he was looking into his bag to see how much candy he had when his brother reached into the bag and stole half of little billy's candy plus one piece. within a few steps little billy encountered his older cousin who reached into his bag and stole half of his remaining candy plus 2 pieces. before little billy could turn and run, his sister reached in and took half of the remaining candy plus three pieces at this point, little billy began to cry because he only had 5 pieces of candy left and he ran home to tell his mom what happened.

little billy's mom figured out what had happened and punished the three of the older children by making them return the number of pieces of candy they had taken from little billy plus an equal amount from their own bags. how many pieces did little billy end up with on halloween. (hint: work the problem backwards.)