How to pick locks (Spy)

[Schipperke]

I've had a couple of spies and can't figure out how to get them to pick the lock to get someone out of the stocks.  My spy tries and tries and usually winds up getting arrested and spending time in the stocks themselves.  Getting someone out of the stocks is a responsibility that appears when your spy is just level one, so it should be do-able, but how?  The highest level spy I've had was probably 4 or 5, and even at that level they couldn't do it.  What I've been doing is clicking on the stocks and telling my sim to pick the lock.  Fails every time.  Is there some secret to success that I'm missing?  I hate it when my character can't complete a responsibility because I don't know how to do it!

[Jonna]

As far as I could tell, the chances depend on your sim's mood -- the game will tell you your chance of success.  That being said, what usually happens for me is that I don't pay attention, try to pick a lock right in front of the Constable, get thrown in the stocks myself, then once I get out, try to pick the lock again, and am successful.  So maybe try to do it when no one is around to see you do it, and try to get your sim's focus level as high as possible.

[Schipperke]

Thanks, Jonna.  I thought my spy had a positive focus when trying to pick the lock, but it's been a few days and I should probably try again.  After all my failed attempts to pick the lock, I was wondering if it would be better to try after dark rather than in broad daylight.  I'll make sure my spy is in a very good mood next time.  At least she's a decent pickpocket, which gives a nice supplement to her income. 

[Saltypaws]

Jonna is right.  I couldn't figure that out either, that is when I discovered the different colors of an interaction and I when I moused over it, it said poor chance at being successful.  I finally got the green and it works every time.

[Figwit]

My spy got it on the third try after being arrested twice. She made it within minutes of the responsibility running out.  I think her luck it might have depended on mood because she had just slept and eaten.  The next time she tried she got it straight away.

[WebbyMom]

I know I'm jumping in a few days late here...

But I've definitely noticed with my spies that I have to wait until that darn constable goes back to his little hovel. If he so much as peeks a toe out while the spy is attempting to pick the lock, the poor spy is gonners himself.

So yeah - on top of good mood insurance, watch out for that constable!

[Schipperke]

I had to laugh the other day.  My level 2 spy was supposed to break someone out of the stocks.  I waited till the constable wasn't around.  My spy tried and failed, and I decided to just take the hit from failing the responsibility rather than keep wasting time on it.  So I had him go home.  And the minute he walked in to the Throne Room, the constable was there to arrest him!  I don't think I'm even going to try picking locks any more, it's just not worth it.  My spies will stick to picking pockets and robbing letter boxes, which they're quite good at.   

[Frozenoj]

I haven't been able to get a low level spy to pick the lock on the first try yet. He always has to get arrested a few time first.  On my second kingdom I had my monarch on the same quest as my spy for his first quest, and I just had her stand nearby while he tried to pick the lock. That way when he got arrested she was right there to let him out! Saved a whole lot of time that way.