The missing key

A few weeks ago I arrived – keyless – at the apartment after lunch in downtown Zürich. Since I had locked the door when I left, it was clear that I had lost my house key. After consultation with Nazy, I decided to wait a few days before calling the “Fond Bureau”. (In Switzerland, locals actually deliver items that they find on the street to the Fond Bureau.)

I was very busy the next few days and didn’t get around to making the call. There was no rush; I had a spare key. More to the point, I live in Switzerland. In a few days I received a letter from my landlord – a key had been found. Naturally, Nazy subjected me to some good-natured ribbing:

“You lost it before you even left the building, Dan.”

However – it turned out that the key was not found in the apartment building. It was found on Bahnhofstrasse by a random citizen who delivered it to the “Fond Bureau” from where the staff called our landlord. It is instructive to note that that neither name nor address was on the key or in the key case. How did they find me? Nazy, who asked the landlord, explained the situation to me.

“There is a number engraved on the apartment key.”

“I know.”

“The police have a database which matches key ID numbers with buildings. When they found that our key was for Carmenstrasse, 48, they simply called the landlord.”

“Hmm, I’m happy to get my key..” I thought. “But, this means that Zürich Cantonal Police have the ability to create a key for any apartment in the city. That’s spooky.”

Note: If we hadn’t found the key, we would have been required to change (at great cost) the master cylinder in the building.