Getting into 221B without a key

[Carol the Dabbler]

We're (re)watching "A Study in Pink," and I just noticed something odd:

 

Sherlock and John arrive at 221, and Mrs. Hudson ushers them in, then closes the door (we hear the "thud").  The three of them go upstairs.  After a bit, Lestrade pulls up in a police car, and next thing we know, he comes bounding up the stairs.

 

How did he get in?

 

You might suggest that Mrs. Hudson merely closed the door without locking it.  But then I would point out that the door has no knob on the outside, just a keyhole, so if it's closed, the only way to open it from the outside is with a key.  So -- Sherlock has barely moved in, and Lestrade already has a key to his house?

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

There has been several fanfic stories that toy with the idea that Sherlock would give Lestrade a key to his flats, since they like the idea that Lestrade was a like a surrogate father figure for Sherlock and so he would have access in case Sherlock might have a "danger night" Lestrade wouldn't have to bust his door down to get to him in case of trouble.  This would account how he gained entry to Baker Street so fast. Sherlock would have contacted him and given him a key since Sherlock had already procured the flat and had started to move in before John showed up at Baker Street that evening.

 

That's only one theory there are probably a whole lot more out there, but the one above does make sense.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks!  Even though I don't find that a terribly plausible explanation, it's at least an improvement over resorting to a real-life explanation (such as they didn't want to take the time for someone to answer the doorbell).

 

Too bad they included that "thud" in the soundtrack -- otherwise we could just assume that the door hadn't closed properly.

 

[Julia Mae]

Thanks!  Even though I don't find that a terribly plausible explanation, it's at least an improvement over resorting to a real-life explanation (such as they didn't want to take the time for someone to answer the doorbell).

 

Too bad they included that "thud" in the soundtrack -- otherwise we could just assume that the door hadn't closed properly.

 

The police in my small town have master keys to all the buildings.

 

ALL the buildings.

 

Sherlock probably texted Lestrade that morning with his new address.  After all, he'd already sent him a text during the last case that said, "You know where to find me," so he wanted to be found.  Maybe the local station or the fire dept have master keys to their local buildings.  Lestrade knew where he was and got a key before he went because he's known Sherlock for 5 years, and so knows he might just decide to ignore a doorbell if he's microwaving fresh eyeballs.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And as Mrs Hudson complained about in "ASIB" if Sherlock got to annoyed with the doorbell, he was apt to shoot it out so if might not work at times anyway.

[Undead Medic]

I don't think that local police or the Fire & Rescue service would have keys to such a small (and private) building. generally if the Fire Service need to access your premises in an emergency their key is a fire axe.  (Or in a less pressing emergency they merely ring the doorbell)

[Julia Mae]

I don't think that local police or the Fire & Rescue service would have keys to such a small (and private) building. generally if the Fire Service need to access your premises in an emergency their key is a fire axe.  (Or in a less pressing emergency they merely ring the doorbell)

 

It's not that small, though, is it?  (Carol would know, of course, she's see it, I believe.)  It's a block long row house as I recall, with shops downstairs.  Mrs. Hudson doesn't own the while building (but she might own Speedy's)  but still, the woman next door who's got "married ones" indicates multiple owners of both private residences and businesses within common walls.

 

I have no idea how things are done in London and environs, but in the US the local fire department would have keys to exterior access doors into the businesses and into the flats.  They don't axe down doors for reports of gas leaks or suspicious smoke.  They knock and then go in.   The case of unattached residences, of course, is different. At least, here. 

 

My impression from what Mr. Gatiss said on DVD commentary is that the flat is supposed to be in a building from the time of the Canon, so it retains this flavor of the original, while containing all the things you'd find in the flat of two modern young men.  So you have the gas fire and the laptops, for instance.  I wouldn't know one bit of architecture from anaother and have no idea when that building they are using was built, but even in one only 50 years old, the fire threat from one location within the structure spreading to other locations is very real.

 

My complex, BTW, is nothing but private apartments, 64 of them in four very long buildings of only two floors each.  The fire and police have keys to all buildings and all apartments. Which is both reassuring and a bit creepy.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Why don't we just assume that Sherlock gave Greg the key personally?

 

[Julia Mae]

Why don't we just assume that Sherlock gave Greg the key personally?

 

okey-dokey

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

It sure works in fandom, in spades.

[Carol the Dabbler]

We're watching "Scandal" now, and Molly waltzes right into the Christmas party.  (She mentions a sign on the door that says just come right up.)  But there's still no knob on the door, just a keyhole.

 

Assuming that Sherlock isn't handing out keys to everyone he knows, all I can think of is that they left the outer door propped open that evening, but the inner door (the one with the glass panel) closed against the cold.  Any other ideas?

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Assuming that Sherlock isn't handing out keys to everyone he knows, all I can think of is that they left the outer door propped open that evening, but the inner door (the one with the glass panel) closed against the cold.  Any other ideas?

Propped open or just left unlocked so it could simply pushed open. If it's a dead lock system that could work. The closed inner door sounds good as well. An open stair well does create an active air exchange system.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Just noticed someone else barging right into 221 -- Moriarty!

 

When he arrives in "Reichenbach," there's a close-up of the interior side of the outer door, and the latch turns.  It's just as though the outside knob was being turned -- except that there isn't any outside knob.  Even if the door was left unlocked (assuming that's possible), I don't see how the latch would rotate like that unless someone outside was turning a key.

 

Yeah, I know, he's Moriarty.  He probably has keys to Buckingham Palace!

 

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

Just noticed someone else barging right into 221 -- Moriarty!

 

When he arrives in "Reichenbach," there's a close-up of the interior side of the outer door, and the latch turns. It's just as though the outside knob was being turned -- except that there isn't any outside knob. Even if the door was left unlocked (assuming that's possible), I don't see how the latch would rotate like that unless someone outside was turning a key.

I never noticed there wasn't an outside knob...oh come on, I just watched it last Sunday! But that IS strange...Sherlock couldn't (or could he?) have given Moriarty keys, because they only met once before (the swimming pool), and he didn't do it then. Anyway why would he give Moriarty keys? But, as you say, perhaps Moriarty found/stole/something-like-that the keys. I/all of us mean he did break into Tower Hill, Pentonville Prison, and the Bank of England at the same time. And he didn't get arrested while he was doing it.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I never noticed either, till I was there (i.e., on North Gower Street, which doubles for Baker Street).  Most of the houses are like that, with just a keyhole and no outside knob.  I assume it's a security feature, but it sure doesn't seem to work very well for Sherlock!

 

From a real-life perspective, I assume they have people just walk in the door so as to keep the story moving.  But from an in-universe perspective, it's definitely odd.  Moriarty basically told Sherlock that he had accomplices to help him get into the Tower of London, etc.  Did he also have an accomplice at Baker Street?

 

[Caya]

Maybe Moriarty simply picked the lock - I think this is fairly easy with non-security locks; when I locked myself out of our old car once, the friendly tech the breakdown service sent opened the door in under 10 seconds (I told him I sure was glad he was working for the good guys ). Ms. Hudson probably has a fairly old lock on her front door.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Sherlock, as the Consulting Detective, has a set of lock picks. I would almost expect Moriarty, as the Consulting Criminal, to have a set as well. They definitely go out of their way at times to appear as the opposite side of the same coin.

[Carol the Dabbler]

So far, we've got three people who can just walk right in, and a different explanation for each -- Lestrade has a key, Molly found the door open, and Moriarty picked the lock.  It isn't so much there being three people that bothers me.  Our reliance on on three different explanations makes me think we're overlooking some simple common factor.

 

So I was thinking, maybe one (or possibly two) of the explanations could account for all three people.  But no -- I can't imagine that either Molly or Moriarty would have been given keys; nor do I believe that the residents habitually leave the door ajar; and I seriously doubt that either Lestrade or Molly would pick the lock (at least not under the given circumstances).

 

Actually, there is one simple unifying explanation -- "they" wanted to keep the story moving -- but that's real life, so it won't do at all!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

So far, we've got three people who can just walk right in ....

 

There's been a fourth -- and there's something different this time.

 

I just noticed last night in "Scandal" that the witness/suspect in the hiker case somehow shows up in Sherlock and John's kitchen while Mrs. Hudson is cleaning out the fridge.  Unlike the other three waltzer-inners, this man is a total stranger.

 

He frantically says, "The door was -- " and then faints.  (The door was what -- open?  With no party and/or crime in progress?)

 

To recapitulate:

 

"Study in Pink": Greg Lestrade

"Scandal in Belgravia":  the frantic man and Molly Hooper [and John Watson]

"Reichenbach Fall":  Jim Moriarty

 

Added:  Just finished "Scandal" and realized I'd neglected to mention another barger-inner (though he was alluded to above), namely John.  When he arrives back from the power plant and sees Sherlock's note on the door, he merely pushes it open.  No key, no lockpick, no nothin'.

 

And I think this had better become its own thread!  [The discussion had gotten started in the "Study in Pink" thread.]

 

[Julia Mae]

 

So far, we've got three people who can just walk right in ....

 

Added:  Just finished "Scandal" and realized I'd neglected to mention another barger-inner (though he was alluded to above), namely John.  When he arrives back from the power plant and sees Sherlock's note on the door, he merely pushes it open.  No key, no lockpick, no nothin'.

 

And I think this had better become its own thread!

 

 

Nor sure about the others, but the CIA guys broke the door, Sherlock sees the broken lock when he arrives before John shows up.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

... the CIA guys [in "Scandal"] broke the door, Sherlock sees the broken lock when he arrives before John shows up.

 

*sigh*  I didn't think to study the close-up when Sherlock arrives.  Was the keyhole scratched, as though it had been picked?  I don't recall the door itself looking smashed-in at all when John arrives.  But as Fox said before:

 

... just left unlocked so it could simply pushed open. If it's a dead lock system that could work.

 

Yes, I take this to be a dead-bolt lock, just going by appearance.  So presumably it could be left unlocked.  Since there's no additional doorknob lock with its own latch, then right, it could just be pushed open.  Either the CIA guys broke the lock or else Sherlock left it unlocked for John's convenience.

 

OK, one instance explained -- only four to go!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Maybe Moriarty simply picked the lock - I think this is fairly easy with non-security locks; when I locked myself out of our old car once, the friendly tech the breakdown service sent opened the door in under 10 seconds (I told him I sure was glad he was working for the good guys ). Ms. Hudson probably has a fairly old lock on her front door.

 

There are two types of locks that I myself could open in under ten seconds:

 

1.  The type of lock commonly found in doorknob sets.  If you can look into the crack between the door and the frame and see the latch itself, then you can open it by inserting a credit card into the crack and pushing it against the latch, even if the latch is "locked."  Piece of cake.  We used to do that in the college dorm all the time.  Well-installed doors don't let you see into the crack.

 

2.  Door locks in older cars.  The lock mechanism could be accessed by inserting a thin, rigid object (coat hangers were popular, as I recall) between the window glass and the rubber gasket and poking around till you heard something "pop" -- et voila!  I've done that too.  Newer cars (i.e., roughly anything that's still on the road) have a metal shield around the lock mechanism.

 

However, the lock on 221 is neither of these types.  It appears to be a deadbolt, and if those are properly installed in a sturdy door, they can't be opened by amateurs.  But Moriarty could have picked it with a proper set of lockpicks (or had one of his henchmen do it, so as not to dirty his dainty hands).

 

[Julia Mae]

Just noticed someone else barging right into 221 -- Moriarty!

 

When he arrives in "Reichenbach," there's a close-up of the interior side of the outer door, and the latch turns.  It's just as though the outside knob was being turned -- except that there isn't any outside knob.  Even if the door was left unlocked (assuming that's possible), I don't see how the latch would rotate like that unless someone outside was turning a key.

 

Yeah, I know, he's Moriarty.  He probably has keys to Buckingham Palace!

 

Rereading, it occurs to me he had keys to more than the front door, he also had a key to the padlock on the door to the basement flat Carl Powers shoes were left in. Surely he has at least one locksmith in his pocket.  It doesn't seem a stretch that one of them went to 221B when no one was around or at night and made a  set of keys.

 

 

[Julia Mae]

 

... the CIA guys [in "Scandal"] broke the door, Sherlock sees the broken lock when he arrives before John shows up.

 

*sigh*  I didn't think to study the close-up when Sherlock arrives.  Was the keyhole scratched, as though it had been picked?  I don't recall the door itself looking smashed-in at all when John arrives.  But as Fox said before:

 

 

The door jamb is broken where it was forced in.  The best double-cylinder deadbolt in the world is only as good as the strength of the jamb.

 

BTW, better-quality lock-in-knobs now have a shim that keeps the credit-card trick from working.  I do recall in the olden days how easy it was to break in to my own apartment when I forgot my key.  Alas!  No more.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... it occurs to me [Moriarty] had keys to more than the front door, he also had a key to the padlock on the door to the basement flat Carl Powers shoes were left in. Surely he has at least one locksmith in his pocket.  It doesn't seem a stretch that one of them went to 221B when no one was around or at night and made a  set of keys.

You're right, he would have needed to get past the front door (in addition to one or two locked doors downstairs) in order to gain access to 221C in "The Great Game." And we know that he doesn't actually do any work, he has people to do that sort of thing for him.  So yeah, someone went in ahead of time and did whatever was necessary to create a set of keys.  (Easiest thing would probably be to borrow Mrs. Hudson's key ring and run 'em down to the hardware store to make duplicates!)  Then all Moriarty had to do was let himself in, whenever.