Zimmer studied all seventeen video monitors until he was sure he was alone in E.Z. Self Storage. He looked at his watch—7:05 a.m. It was rare for anyone to come in this early. Reaching into his right pocket, he pulled out his large set of keys. He flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for: a silver key, slightly smaller and thinner than the rest.
Holding it between the thumb and index finger of his right hand, Zimmer left his office and walked to the first floor of the storage units. Extending the index finger of his left hand, Zimmer tapped each lock as he passed it, leaving a hallway of swinging locks behind him. At the end of the hall he got into the elevator and took it to the third floor. He walked directly to unit #387 and used the silver key to open the padlock.
Once inside, Zimmer began to open boxes. He opened one that was full of winter clothes and wrapped six scarves around his neck. In another box was a cowboy hat, which Zimmer put on his head. He opened boxes filled with antiquated kitchen appliances, textbooks with uncracked spines and children’s toys. Then he found ski boots and a pair of cross-country skis in a tall bag and put them on. He clumped down the hallway and back.
Zimmer took off the skis and boots and stepped back into the storage unit. He removed the scarves, the cowboy hat. He put everything back exactly as he’d found it. Leaving the unit, Zimmer looked over his shoulder to make sure he’d gotten everything just right. Satisfied, he turned off the light and locked the door.
Taking the stairs down to the second floor, he found that he was unable to resist stopping at unit #207. He already had the slightly smaller, thinner key between his thumb and forefinger when he saw that the lock was missing. Quickly, Zimmer pulled open the door of unit #207 and discovered that it was empty.