Ted got into picking locks because he liked puzzles.  And he liked a challenge.  Sudoku puzzles, Rubick’s Cubes, and chess—you name it.  If it made you break into a mental sweat, Ted was into it. 

He was mechanically inclined too.  When he was young, he could successfully dismantle his ten-speed, taking the chain off, dismantling the wheels and handlebars from the bike’s chassis, and putting it all back together again.  It moved from his bike to his brother’s bike to the neighbor kids’ bikes, and then with age, the projects became more complex.  For a time, he worked with clocks, his workspace cluttered with cogs, gears, and springs.  Then he bought a motorcycle, and spend all of his spare time in the garage with his ratchet set and his “hog.” 

For Ted, lock-picking was a novelty, distinct from all the other challenges because while the puzzle was mechanical in nature, the workable parts were always hidden.  In a way it was black and white.  The lock was either closed or open, but the process was a delicate art.  It was the getting there that Ted enjoyed so thoroughly.  Hearing the lock snap open was only part of the joy that Ted experienced when he sat down with his lock-picking kit. 

The real pleasure came from refining his skill to the point that he could tell just how many pins remained out of place before the lock gave way.  He got to the point that he could tell by the pressure on the pick itself whether there was one pin tumbler left in the cylinder or if there were five.  He mastered the art of lock-picking.  When he first started picking locks, he would find himself surprised by the padlock’s sudden release of its shackle.  The more he studied and practiced, his methods became fluid and he could anticipate when the lock would give. 

For this reason, lock-picking guns weren’t his style.  He preferred the measured pressure of his own wrist, relishing the feel of the torque wrench’s edge digging gently into his thumb and forefinger.  And there was always, always the joy of release, of feeling obstinate resistance instantly release itself, giving way to freedom.  

Few things could compare to the joy he felt when he was breaking into his ex-wife’s house throught the use of his lock-picking set.