The hum mystery is bothering Ben. ( key ) Ben remembered that the room was the same room Cooper was shot in. He's only aware Cooper left town ( not knowing it was "Mr. C." ), but the "coincidence" may stick in his mind. It might be that Hawk or Truman will ask questions about the past at the hotel, so the key might lead to something.

I just had hoped for some tracking of the key back to Vegas, but I doubt it now.

Easy, just have a bit of patience:) it's not regular tv show with simple cause-result effect. We'll get there.

Imagine you're Ben Horne. You're getting the old hotel key that you don't need anymore cause you switched to cards long time ago. Your hotel is perfectly fine, room 315 had many guests during all these years, you're not aware Cooper is missing, why notify the police in the first place?

If I recall correctly, Ben was never aware of anything at all strange during the original series. To him, it was just a straightforward (if complicated) murder case in which he was implicated.

For all he knows, some random person might have just found the key in a ditch and dropped it in a box (which is kinda what actually did happen).

But the arrival of the key and Hawk's discovery of the missing journal pages coinciding like that does seem rather convenient. And given Leland and Laura's old association with Ben (and that Leland probably hid the pages to begin with), I wouldn't be surprised if Hawk pays Ben a visit (in a hotel littered with Native American-themed decor, one might add), during which Cooper's name is mentioned a few times. And what if Hawk notices that hum in the office as well? Ben doesn't have to notify the police in order for them to visit him.

But yeah, we'll have to wait a while to get to that, in all likelihood.

or: Hawk pays Ben a visit to asks about Audrey's whereabouts
from there the story picks up

also, in reference to the hum. at first i thought it was the key, but the focus was on the wall itself. I read an article believing it is actually the soul of josie still trapped within the wood of the lodge. 

i dont know that it will expand beyond the slight nod but i think that is most likely the answer

Posted by: Mr Jackpots

also, in reference to the hum. at first i thought it was the key, but the focus was on the wall itself. I read an article believing it is actually the soul of josie still trapped within the wood of the lodge. 

i dont know that it will expand beyond the slight nod but i think that is most likely the answer

I agree. They focus was on the wood and you couldn't place the hum (as wood is everywhere in the hotel). Wood in general has a huge role in general in the TP universe. 

The hum comes from the wood. I assume it is Josie's soul screaming because she wants them to focus on the key. Has the hum been going on long? Before the key arrived?  

Beverly says that she first started hearing the hum "sometime last week." So this theory that the hum's a direct effect of the key returning must be wrong; however, the timing does seem appropriate for Josie to start sending signals from the Great Northern's wood a few days before the Good Cooper is set to emerge from the Lodge.