I've lost the only key...

[Inrealtroublenow]

To the laptop cabinet in the office. All our laptops are stored in there. Feel sick at having to admit that to boss tomorrow. Looked everywhere in office/ home/ coat/ bag. I was the only one in yesterday and today so it's definitely me and not anyone else. Was told when I started (relatively recently) to protect key with my life because it's the only copy.

Definitely check everywhere around the drivers seat (under, at the back of, between the sides) I am forever losing things and always find them around the drivers seat

It's down to their lack of risk assessment and business continuity planning. What is supposed to happen to the key after you lock the cabinet? Is it supposed to be placed somewhere where others can retrieve it? What if the last person in locks it and takes it home and get's hit by a bus?

It's their problem. They should have ordered in others, have a key safe to keep it in or had more cut so you all had one. There will be a number on the lock that allows it to be replaced without bursting the lock. Our office support people had a bunch of spares so when one went missing, they would either give you a spare or if they only had one other, they'd come and unlock and relock it while they waited on another arriving.

Ridiculous to have only one key. They will have to get a locksmith or...

when I was a very junior barrister, I was at a solicitors firm and they had a very similar problem. My client kindly volunteered to pick the lock and open the cabinet (which he did in about 5 seconds). They gave him lunch as a thank you.

And yes, he was up on various charges of theft...

I've picked office locks before, deputy manager had lost the key to her desk drawer, got it open in under five minutes. No official criminal history.
Also thirding or fourthing asking St Anthony but you HAVE to remember to say thank you afterwards, when he has been particularly helpful I even light a candle for him.
'Tony Tony look around, something's lost that must be found.'
I usually personalise it a bit 'Tony Tony look around, my is lost and must be found. So in your scenario I'd probably say the laptop cabinet key is lost and must be found.
Works 80 to 90 percent of the time.

I locked my laptop in my pedestal and left my key at home. Took a couple of minutes for someone to open my lock with a paper clip

There was also one bloke who had the master key for every pedestal in the 10 story building that could have opened it for me

Not your issue to be the one person completely responsible for the one key they have. Worst case it’s a crowbar job. Again not your fault

If you’ve been at work and it’s an office, do you use folders for paperwork? I once lost a set of keys for months, then opened a folder one day and there they were, hooked around the bloody metal rings!

This may sound like a load of woo but it can't hurt.
Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things and St Jude is the saint of hopeless causes. Might be worth asking them? It always works for me 😊 (very aware of the responses I'm gonna get but idc 🤷‍♀️😊)

Say a prayer to St Anthony three times. I did this for a lost item and 5 minutes later placed my hands on them in exactly the place I’d looked 5 times. Worth s shot! If not check your bra- I too often find things stuck to my boob at night lol

Did you have an umbrella today? I once lost my only car key turned my house upside down, a week or so later it was raining grab an umbrella and out it rolled!

@Inrealtroublenow OP...Was nobody else working or am I getting confused? Did nobody else have their laptops all day?

I’m sure you said there are 6 people working there?

On top of the cabinet? A windowsill? Could you physically replay your rush pretending the keys in your hand and see where it takes you? Random I know.

I agree a prayer to St Anthony! He always finds my things! Honestly do not know how.

Could someone else have picked the key up and either a) doesn’t realise it’s an issue and how frantic you are, or b) is deliberately not telling you as they know how worked up you’ll be?

We were told to lock laptops away when leaving office (in your drawer). They were still insured in the office but just best to keep them out of site.

Often we'd take a left out laptop and lock it away, watch the person panic for 5 mins the next morning.

So I too reckon someone roar came back, realised cupboard not locked and locked it and took the key.

Unless you 100 know that no one
Else went into the office that afternoon?

I bet you left it open and someone else helpfully locked it and took the key home by mistake.

Probably your boss.

Bless you! Check behind and around any flat thing or surface you may have put them on. I lost an important key at work and spent hours trying to find it. In the end it turned out I'd put it on top of a stack of boxes of A4 paper and they'd fallen behind them.

How bloody stupid of them to only have 1 key. Hopefully they will learn from this.

Please don't panic, it's a minor thing.

I think get on your hands and knees and look under the tables and chairs. It might just be under something but very hidden.

Just look everywhere again tomorrow. Check the bins.

Don’t you think it’s likely that someone else has the key? You unlocked it this morning, and others have put their laptops in and it’s now locked but you don’t remember locking it.

Why do you think that you have the key?

I once lost my car keys and they turned up in the fridge. But not my fridge, my mother in law's fridge! I'd gone in there to grab some chocolate to give to my DN and left the keys in there.

Try and think of absolutely everything you did when you left the office, however insignificant. They will turn up somewhere.

@Inrealtroublenow

To the laptop cabinet in the office. All our laptops are stored in there. Feel sick at having to admit that to boss tomorrow. Looked everywhere in office/ home/ coat/ bag. I was the only one in yesterday and today so it's definitely me and not anyone else. Was told when I started (relatively recently) to protect key with my life because it's the only copy.

A few years ago we had a new team manager - on promotion from another office. On her first day she was the last to leave and followed policy to lock all the filing cabinets. Next morning she found out why we had kept them open. Absolutely no keys at all.

She survived.

Haven't read the full thread but try lock picking videos on YouTube, most small locks and padlocks are quite easy to pick. I'm always losing keys, especially to the little locks I don't use often.

Please don't lie about this. You'd rather be seen as a person who makes mistakes than a person who lies

Is it a fairly standard issue cabinet? If so you might be able to order a replacement key at hardly any cost using a firm such as the following: fastkeys.co.uk/keys/by-type/Filing+cabinet+keys/

(Google replacement cabinet keys for a list of firms.)

If you don't recognise the key, check the lock for a code... even ordering a few options will be cheaper than a locksmith.

@starfishmummy it must be obvious but I can't think how she locked the filing cabinets if there weren't any keys

St Anthony is your man! Offer him a most sincere prayer and he’ll show you the way. Failing that, do you know anyone with a metal detector?