We had just landed in Paris on a flight from Copenhagen when I noticed that my red rucksack had gone missing. Then I saw it, in the hands of a small French girl. I knew that it was mine because I had attached a rare Sun Microsystems Sunrise club label to the handle. The little girl claimed that it was hers because she had scribbled her name on it.

I grabbed the bag and tipped it out – only to find that it contained the child’s dirty clothing. Even if the bag was mine, clearly its contents were not. So what had become of all my belongings?

Another passenger caught up with me, pulled an unusually shaped portable video camera out of his pocket, and displayed some footage on a nearby screen. This showed the child stealing my bag in Copenhagen. Now we had the evidence to prosecute her – and/or her father (who, conveniently, was sitting well out of the way, working on his laptop).