Passage: The Locker that Wasn't Broken
On Monday morning, students arrived at school to find a note taped to the hallway bulletin board near the main office. It read:
“Someone broke into Locker 217 over the weekend. Please see the office if you know anything.”
Locker 217 belonged to Marcus. When he opened it later that morning, everything inside appeared untouched—his backpack rested against the back wall, his books were stacked neatly, and his jacket was still hanging from the hook. Nothing was missing, and nothing looked damaged.
Marcus noticed, however, that his locker smelled faintly of cleaning spray, stronger than usual. A thin streak of water ran along the bottom edge of the locker door, though the floor around it was dry.
Later that day, the assistant principal reviewed the security footage with a school resource officer. The cameras showed that the hallway remained empty for most of the weekend. Only one person appeared on camera Saturday afternoon. The person walked down the hall slowly, stopped directly in front of Locker 217, opened it without hesitation, glanced inside for a few seconds, and then closed it again before leaving.
When questioned, Marcus said he had lost his locker key the week before and had been using a spare key he kept in his backpack. The spare key was still inside the locker on Monday morning, clipped to the zipper pocket where Marcus always kept it.
One more detail puzzled the staff: Locker 217 showed no signs of being forced open—no scratches near the lock, no bent metal, and no damage to the latch.
Prompt
What do you think really happened with Locker 217?
Use at least two clues from the passage to support your best explanation.
Initial Post (5–6 sentences):
State your best guess about what happened
Identify at least 3 clues from the passage
Explain how each clue supports your idea
Two Replies (2–3 sentences):
Respond to at least one classmate with a different theory
Point out one clue that strengthens or weakens their explanation