This is an old puzzle but for the life of me I can't remember the answer or the reasoning. And now I need the answer for inclusion in a project. So, Mudcatters, can you help?

Three men go into a motel. The man behind the desk says the room is $30, so each man pays $10 and goes to the room.

A while later the man behind the desk realizes the room is only $25, so he sends the bellboy to the 3 guys' room with $5. On the way the bellboy can't figure out how to split $5 evenly between three men, so he gives each man $1 and keeps the other $2 for himself.

This means that the 3 men each paid $9 for the room, which is a total of $27, plus the $2 that the bellboy kept = $29. Where is the other dollar?

Thanks in advance!

Ebbie