The Case of the Vanishing Ear Buds

[Snarky]

Yes, it's another baffling true-life case from the Snarky Files. In this case I don't actually know the correct solution in reality, but I have a hypothesis that will serve as the answer for the purposes of this game (unless someone comes up with a different answer that turns out to be correct).

The Case
I have two sets of wireless ear buds, so that I can use one pair while charging the other. Each pair comes in a small carrying case. Last week I was listening to music while biking to work. I was in a rush as I was a bit late. I remember taking out the ear buds as I entered the office, and putting them in their case that I had been carrying in my jacket pocket. (I think the other case was also in my jacket pocket.) That is the last time I remember having them.

I put my jacket in a shared closet/wardrobe nearby, dropped off my bag by a desk (we use a hot-desk open office setup without fixed work spaces; all the ones in my usual area were taken, so I left it until I could find a free seat), and hurried to find a free meeting room for a remote meeting. The rest of the day was spent in the office: After my meeting I found a free desk in the open office area, I grabbed coffee from the kitchen zone, I went to lunch in the cafeteria, and I had another meeting in another meeting room.

At the end of the day as I was preparing to leave, I looked for the ear buds and could not find either pair. I checked my jacket, bag, trouser pockets, the area around the desk I had used and where I initially dropped my bag, the kitchen area and both meeting rooms I had used. Everyone else had already left, but when I was next in the office I checked the lost and found and asked the cleaner if she had found anything.

Where did they go?

You may ask me follow-up questions or offer theories.

[Creamy]

I tend to be absent-minded too. I hate these moments.
Once, I lost the key to a house and noticed it just before a transaction. A great moment of solitude 

About your earbuds:

Spoiler

Because you lost both pairs at once and couldn't find them in your belongings, on your desk or in the closet, I see 2 options:
1) someone stole them in your jacket.
2) The earbuds could have fallen between the time you took your jacket off and the time you put it in the closet. It can happen if you fold your jacket on your arm.
This brings more questions:
- when did you take your jacket off ?
- can the pockets of your jacket be closed? Even so, you may have forgotten to close them since you were late. And since you were in a rush, you're less likely to notice the earbuds falling.

[close]

[heltenjon]

Follow-up questions:

1) Did you lose both pairs of earbuds?
2) Did you get them back from the cleaner or lost and found?
3) Are you sure you have the right jacket?
4) Could you have left them temporarily to use your hands for something (answering a phone call, taking out a key or key card from a pocket)?
5) Could you have plugged them into an outlet for charging?

A not too far fetched theory:

Spoiler

You put the box on top of your bag, but because you were in a hurry, they slid to the floor. Someone saw them on the floor and placed them on top of the desk. The person using the desk was taking them to the lost and found, but made a stop at a toilet first, totally forgetting the box. The box was found by someone in the toilet room, putting it on a sink or similar for the owner to easily spot when she returned. "She" is the key word, because you didn't search the ladies' restroom.

[close]

EDIT:
6) Do you change clothes after riding the bike before working?

[Snarky]

In the real-life version of this investigation I may have got a lead. I'm following up to see if it pans out.

1) someone stole them in your jacket.

I don't think it's very likely that anyone would deliberately steal second-hand ear buds. In that case it would more likely to be done out of spite than greed, but I am not aware of any personal enemies at the office.

2) The earbuds could have fallen between the time you took your jacket off and the time you put it in the closet. It can happen if you fold your jacket on your arm.
This brings more questions:
- when did you take your jacket off ?
- can the pockets of your jacket be closed? Even so, you may have forgotten to close them since you were late. And since you were in a rush, you're less likely to notice the earbuds falling.

I took off the jacket when I arrived at the part of the office that has the wardrobe/closet for outdoor clothes. I can't imagine that I wouldn't notice the cases falling on the floor.

1) Did you lose both pairs of earbuds?

Yes

2) Did you get them back from the cleaner or lost and found?

No (if I did I wouldn't have made this thread)

3) Are you sure you have the right jacket?

Yes, I arrived and left in the same jacket (which is mine).

4) Could you have left them temporarily to use your hands for something (answering a phone call, taking out a key or key card from a pocket)?

Yes, that is possible

5) Could you have plugged them into an outlet for charging?

No, I didn't bring a charging cable

A not too far fetched theory:

Spoiler

You put the box on top of your bag, but because you were in a hurry, they slid to the floor. Someone saw them on the floor and placed them on top of the desk. The person using the desk was taking them to the lost and found, but made a stop at a toilet first, totally forgetting the box. The box was found by someone in the toilet room, putting it on a sink or similar for the owner to easily spot when she returned. "She" is the key word, because you didn't search the ladies' restroom.

[close]

It's an ingenious theory, but in that case I'm pretty certain the cleaner would have found them, and she said she hadn't seen them.

6) Do you change clothes after riding the bike before working?

No

[Creamy]

On arrival, after storing the ear buds in the carrying case, do you remember putting it back in the jacket? I assumed so but it's not written. And even if you didn't put one pair back in the jacket, the other one should have been there.

I only have shitty theories at this point:

Spoiler

Someone has mistaken your ear buds for theirs? Very unlikely if you lost both pairs...

[close]

Spoiler

A big hole in your pocket, approximately the size of an ear bud case

[close]

Spoiler

Did you backflip on arrival to impress your co-workers?

[close]

[Snarky]

On arrival, after storing the ear buds in the carrying case, do you remember putting it back in the jacket? I assumed so but it's not written. And even if you didn't put one pair back in the jacket, the other one should have been there.

I don't remember specifically. At the end of the day I expected to find them in my jacket pocket, but I might have had them with me until some point during the day. I sometimes hang up my jacket and sort out my bag, badge, etc. before returning items to the jacket pocket.

Note that it is perfectly possible that I took out the other case as well, either because I was taking them with me or because I tried the wrong case first when I was putting away the ear buds.

[heltenjon]

My remaining theory is that they have slid to the floor, and someone has spotted them and by mistake thought they belonged to the person sitting at the desk nearby. Perhaps they could even have stored them away for giving them back, if that person had already left.

Let's hope they're not holding on to them because it would be awkward to admit they had taken them.

[Creamy]

(I think the other case was also in my jacket pocket.)

You could have failed to notice that you had lost the other pair earlier.
When I have certain objects in duplicate, it takes me longer to notice the loss of one of them.
The prejudice is not immediate when you have another one.

[Stupot]

I have a few questions:

1) How far is the distance between the entrance to the office and the shared closet? Right by the door? in a different room, on a different floor?

2) Could you clarify whether you believe you transferred the buds to your jacket pockets immediately upon entering the office, or when you approached the shared closet? Or at some point between?

3) Did you go directly to the shared closet, or did you do anything else between the entering the office and opening the closet.

4) Did you stop and talk to anyone during that time?

5) I'm not sure if you have specified exactly at which point you removed the jacket. I imagined you took it off when you got to the shared closet, or was it at some point before that?

6) Did you hang the jacket on a hook or a hanger, or did you just dump it in a basket, or cubby-hole or something?

7) Perhaps this should have been question 1, but: When you say you "entered the office", are you referring to the specific office space your company occupies, or the entrance to a larger building which is used by multiple businesses?

8) Where is the safe, and what is the code?

Working half-theory:

Spoiler

Depending on your answers to some of the above questions, and assuming that a) no one took them from your pocket deliberately, and b) you have thoroughly searched the closet and they definitely aren't in or around it, it seems to me that they have to have been dropped at some point between your entering the building/office and putting your jacket in the closet.

The key to solving the case is in remembering exactly what you did during this period of time.

[close]

[Snarky]

@heltenjon and @Creamy, interesting ideas, but they don't really fit. I am certain I had both cases in my jacket pocket as I entered the office. I think we have to assume that I forgot or misplaced them somewhere, or someone accidentally took them, not that they were deliberately stolen (I don't believe anyone would steal second-hand ear buds) or accidentally dropped (which I am pretty sure would have been noticed).

7) Perhaps this should have been question 1, but: When you say you "entered the office", are you referring to the specific office space your company occupies, or the entrance to a larger building which is used by multiple businesses?

1) How far is the distance between the entrance to the office and the shared closet? Right by the door? in a different room, on a different floor?

6) Did you hang the jacket on a hook or a hanger, or did you just dump it in a basket, or cubby-hole or something?

OK, I'll explain. The company occupies multiple floors of an office building (I only use one of them), and when I say "office" I mean this area. You enter through a lift shaft/staircase in the middle of the building, using an access card, and head to your team's seating area, which are arranged along the sides of the building by the windows. In between there are meeting rooms, a kitchenette, printer room, supply rooms, toilets, etc, divided by corridors. The closets are sliding-door wardrobes built into the sides of these corridors, with clothes hangers on a rod.

It's probably about 10 meters from the entrance staircase to "my" wardrobe (used by everyone in this part of the building), which is right on the edge of my team's seating area—maybe 3 meters from the desk I normally use, which was taken that day.

2) Could you clarify whether you believe you transferred the buds to your jacket pockets immediately upon entering the office, or when you approached the shared closet? Or at some point between?

I took the case out of my jacket pocket to put my earbuds in it as I was walking down the corridor to the wardrobe closet. I don't remember exactly when I put them back in my jacket pocket, or if I did so at all.

3) Did you go directly to the shared closet, or did you do anything else between the entering the office and opening the closet.

5) I'm not sure if you have specified exactly at which point you removed the jacket. I imagined you took it off when you got to the shared closet, or was it at some point before that?

I don't remember exactly. My usual habit is to first drop my backpack, access card and any other stuff I'm carrying off at the desk I'm claiming, then hang up my jacket in the closet (on a clothes hanger), stuffing things like hat, gloves, and things I'm not going to need during the day in the jacket pockets. But since the desks in that seating area were all claimed (though not all occupied at that moment), I think I hung up my jacket first, then put my backpack down by an currently unused desk, took out my laptop, and headed to a meeting room.

4) Did you stop and talk to anyone during that time?

Not for any length of time. I was in a hurry.

Spoiler

Depending on your answers to some of the above questions, and assuming that a) no one took them from your pocket deliberately, and b) you have thoroughly searched the closet and they definitely aren't in or around it, it seems to me that they have to have been dropped at some point between your entering the building/office and putting your jacket in the closet.

The key to solving the case is in remembering exactly what you did during this period of time.

[close]

You are close but to not quite on the mark of my hypothetical solution.

[Mandle]

Were the air buds made from biodegradable materials?

[Stupot]

Might they have ended up in the dust bag of the vacuum cleaner?

[Snarky]

OK, I think it's time to reveal the solution I had in mind.

These are the clues that point to the answer:

Spoiler

- The last time I remember having the ear buds, it was to take them out and put them in their case, just as I entered the office.
- Both cases were identical.
- There are only a few steps (10 m) from the entrance to the closet, and I was in a hurry.

- At the end of the day, I expected to find the ear buds in my jacket pocket. (It was the first place I checked.)
- My jacket was then hanging in a closet shared with others.
- There were many people already in the office when I arrived. (Since all the desks were taken.) It can therefore be inferred that the closet was full of coats and jackets.
- By the time I left, most of the others in the office were already gone.

- I usually stuff things I won't need during the day in my jacket pockets and hang up my jacket after dropping off stuff I will need at my desk.
- On this day, all the desks in my usual seating area were already claimed, though some were currently unoccupied.
- I believe I hung up my jacket before going to an unoccupied desk to sort out my things.

- After arriving, I headed for a meeting room.
- The meeting rooms are between the entrance and my seating area, so past the closet.

[close]

With that in mind, here is my scenario:

Spoiler

I came in to the office, and took out my ear buds to put them in their case. Because the two cases were identical, I had to take out both to find the one to put them in. So I didn't finish fiddling with this and returning them to the pockets by the time I reached the closet.

I took off my jacket and hung it in the closet. I took all my other stuff, including the cases, over to a currently unoccupied desk in order to sort everything out (mainly to retrieve my laptop from my backpack). Since the desk was claimed, I couldn't leave my stuff there. On my way to the meeting room, passing by the closet, I therefore stuffed the ear bud cases into what I thought was my jacket pocket.

However, since the closet was full of jackets, I put them in the pocket of the wrong jacket, and another colleague brought them home unwittingly, with no clue where they came from when they found them.

[close]

Perhaps this is not what really happened, but it's plausible enough to put my mind at rest, in any case.

[Stupot]

That does sound like a very plausible solution. But it seems like you're still not 100% sure. Have you asked around to see if anyone has found two sets of earbuds in their jacket?

I'd be pretty annoyed knowing that someone found my earbuds and didn't make an effort to return them. Maybe you can do a bit of detective work and find out who has got the most similar jacket to yours.

In fact, are you certain the jacket you put on at the end of the day was yours? Maybe you had put the buds in the right jacket but someone had left with yours leaving theirs in the closet, and you didn't realise it was someone else's.

[Mandle]

In fact, are you certain the jacket you put on at the end of the day was yours? Maybe you had put the buds in the right jacket but someone had left with yours leaving theirs in the closet, and you didn't realise it was someone else's.

It would indeed be a fun twist if this actually turned out to be The Case of the Accidentally Stolen Jacket instead. Although, unless both jackets were quite new, even if the exact same make and size, I think it would be difficult to not notice small stains and scuffs being different, or maybe I'm just a slob.

[cat]

Don't you have something like a pinboard (either the real thing or an intranet one) where you could post if someone has found them? Or did you check the lost and found again after a few days? Maybe someone has handed them in a few days later?

[Snarky]

No, I didn't take the wrong jacket; like Mandle says, there's really no way to mistake it for another one.

My company never really ended the work-from-home policy from the pandemic, and many people including me are only in the office about once per week. So it's hard to ask everyone. (On this particular day there were a lot of people in because of a big presentation.)

We don't have a notice board, but I could perhaps put up a flyer by the kitchenette/coffee machine. And there's an internal messaging system that's used for announcements. It's mostly for work-related things, but I suppose I could post there too. I have kind of given them up for lost, though.

I did check the lost and found a couple of times over the following weeks without luck.

[heltenjon]

You can post a message that you have a dangerous virus in your earwax, and the person with your earbuds needs to contact you immediately! 

[Mandle]

You can post a message that you have a dangerous virus in your earwax, and the person with your earbuds need to contact you immediately! 

Genius!!!

Kinda like how they say you should always yell "FIRE!!!" if you are in some kind of danger, because people will always flock to see a fire. Well, unless you are standing in front of a firing squad of course.