Suppose the police found an unconscious man with no wallet or ID, but he had a loose key in his pocket.
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Could they tell just by looking at it that it was, in fact, a key to a safe deposit box? That is, is there something distinctive to their appearance? I’m guessing they look more or less like a regular key – roughly same size, same bronzy appearance, with a hole for a key ring? And it has a ‘box number’ etched on it?
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Assuming they know it’s a safe deposit key, can they tell what bank the box is in? Is the banks’s name engraved on it, or is there some code number that they can look up? If so, would you need law enforcement credentials to find out, or could anyone find out the name of the bank?
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Assuming they can trace the key to the right bank, and know the box number, will the bank simply tell them who the owner of that box is OR is this one of the things they’d have to get a search warrant for?
Finally, assuming you have the key, and know the right bank, can you simply walk in and say “I want to open my box” and be allowed to open it without showing ID that matches the owner on record?
Whew! Lots of questions, I know, but I hope someone here knows. (This is for the detective story I’m doing for this year’s NaNoWriMo, btw.)