These locks are opened using master keys: one master key is used to open one lock, after which it is removed from the inventory. Therefore, there are exactly five master keys in the game for the same number of regular locks. Regular locks are either built into desk drawers (there are exactly three of these in the medical center) or into metal lockers used in the changing rooms (there are two of these lockers, hidden in the basement beneath the medical center). Each locked drawer always contains one rare metal. This resource is used to craft ammunition for the Requiem revolver, making them so valuable and coveted among gamers.
In RE9, some lockpicks become available only after you advance deeper into the Medical Center. However, progressing through the storyline also means you can go too far and permanently miss lockpicks and the ability to open some common locks in earlier areas. Therefore, it’s important to proceed carefully and consult your existing knowledge: once you leave some parts of the Medical Center, you won’t be able to return to them.
Master Key #1 – Chief Researcher’s Office
To get the first master key, you’ll first need to explore the medical center’s west wing. Once you’ve found the chairman’s office and solved the puzzle to obtain the moon quartz, look for the unicorn box in the same room.
Open it, carefully examine the sides, and you’ll find a red stone. Using this stone, you’ll be able to enter the living room at the very beginning of the west wing, before the kitchen door, and find a hand holding the keycard to the east wing. In the same living room, you can spend ancient coins to purchase various items.
After receiving the map from the east wing, proceed there, through the reception area, past the isolation ward and the waiting room, and up the stairs to the second floor. There’s a level 1 ID bracelet in the hallway on the right, but you need to go through the door that leads to the hallway next to the chief researcher’s office. The first master key is on a table under the window on the left side, in the hallway outside the chief researcher’s office.
Just outside this room, you’ll find a Level 1 ID Wristband, which you’ll need to progress the story. This location is impossible to miss if you’re following the main storyline, but be sure to grab the lockpick before moving on and leaving the medical center.
Master Key #2 – Caretaker’s Room
After obtaining the level 1 ID wristband, head west of the living room in the west wing. Pass the kitchen and you’ll find a locked grate, which can now be opened with the ID wristband. Follow the corridor beyond it to the left to find the Overseer’s Room. It contains a typewriter for saving and item storage. Inside the room is also a cabinet containing the second lockpick.
Master Key #3 – Office
Having obtained the previous master key, exit the caretaker’s room into the hallway and find the entrance to the stairwell opposite. Go up to the second floor to find yourself in the office . The third master key is on one of the desks. There are no puzzles here—it’s just lying there in plain sight, so examine the room carefully before moving on.
Master Key #4 – Workshop, Ventilation
While searching for jumper plugs in the basement beneath the medical center, which you’ll drop into from the security chief’s office in the isolation ward, you’ll need to activate the boiler room entrance to retrieve one of the jumper plugs. Inside this area, look slightly to the right of the forklift and you’ll notice a small ventilation opening. Before turning right while moving through the ventilation opening, look slightly to the left and pick up the fourth master key lying on the floor. It’s easy to miss, as players are usually focused on finding the jumper plug.
Master Key #5 – Boiler Room
To reach the final lockpick, use the connector plug on the northeastern terminal (the very first one in this area). This will open up the area above the boiler room. Push the drawer aside to reveal a gap in the mesh. Make your way through and search the floor for the fifth lockpick. In the same area, there’s a box containing a socket wrench, needed to unlock the terminal housing two connector plugs.
All the regular locks in the medical center are master-keyed.
Lockbox #1 – Chairman’s Office
When the story takes you to the chairman’s office to solve the first puzzle, examine the hallway outside the room with the medical center model. The first locked box is nearby. You’ll come here before you find the first lockpick, so be sure to come back!
Lockbox #2 – East Wing Lobby
Immediately after entering the east wing lobby, look at the table against the wall to the right. It contains another drawer with a standard lock. Mr. Raccoon is standing at the lobby’s reception desk. He’s visible almost immediately, but due to poor lighting, some players may miss him.
Locked Drawer #3 – Restroom
After confronting the cook in the kitchen, when you exit through the other door, first turn left. Pass the restroom entrance and find a table with a drawer and a standard lock in the dead end. Don’t enter the restroom itself.
Locked Box #4 – Sleeping Quarters
Like the last two lockpicks, common locks #4 and #5 are located in the basement beneath the Rhodes Hill Medical Center. Outside the safe room where you can save and tinker with your inventory, look for a hallway with several locked doors and a terminal with a jumper plug. Use one of the plugs to access the sleeping quarters. Inside, you’ll find a Mr. Raccoon collectible figurine, a couple of zombies , a note, and a cabinet with a common lock against the wall on the left.
Lockbox #5 – Inspection Room
The last locked crate with a standard lock is located in the security room beneath the medical center. To get there, first take the forklift key next to the terminal with the third connector. Then use the key to activate the forklift in the furnace area, which will open the way to the security room.
Once you enter this room, you’ll immediately notice black bags and corpses hanging on hooks. But don’t go deeper into the room; instead, look to the left. There are two boxes against the wall, one of them locked with a standard lock.
Thus, by finding and using all 5 lockpicks, you will receive 5 rare metals, which can be used to craft 5 rounds of Requiem ammo.