You might need Hercule Poirot to figure this one out. The latest theft to hit Helensburgh was almost the entire stock of bouncy castles from a lock-up used by a local rental firm.

And I’m thinking that bouncy castles, once inflated, are not the easiest things to hide. Nor can you realistically paint them.

So, since the crime has been widely described as pre-planned, I’d dearly love to know what went into the planning process.

Do the thieves have contacts in another country, or even another Scottish location, who were set up to take delivery of a load of giant inflatables?

Is there is Mr Big of Bouncy Castles with a warehouse filling up with them for future hires?

Or, more plausibly, are our master criminals just some local bad lots looking for a way to make a fast buck out of someone else’s hard graft.

In case that’s the truth of it, anyone thinking of hiring a bouncy castle in the future should be demanding very specifically where the product comes from and evidence that it’s a bona fide company and of ownership. Any reputable hirer won’t mind, and any chancer might just be caught out.

My last encounter with this product was at a carnival where, for reasons now escaping me, I’d taken three small boys for cover. (They give you very funny looks if you go on carnival rides with no evidence of child companions.)

Just as the lads and myself had all got the trainers off and neatly stacked, the operator barred my entrance. No adults, he said. Pfff.

Where’s the fun in watching somebody else bouncing?