Shrouded Hills quests and problem

In my current playthrough (just the last patch, no UAP) I try to do as many quests as possible.

However after doing the "destroy the bridge material" for the Thieves I noticed that I can no longer "persuade them to leave". So I´d rather wanted to "persuade them to leave", then attack them while leaving for their gear and the XP and THEN collecte the reward from Constable Owen for killing the bandits....

In theory that should work, but in practice I have a problem.
Dead Bandit leader does not carry the key that opens the bridge gate (and he had while living)...

As my lock pick skill is lower than Virgils and his is not high enough I can´t open the gate and am still stuck in Shrouded Hills...

As my pick pockets skill is 0 the chance to steal the key from him while he lives is minimal.

Any ideas?

 

- have you tried to destroy the bridge gate?
- have you checked the barrels near the bandits? IIRC the key was in there....
- keep in mind you won't always be able to do all the quests in one playthrough
- and about the UAP, neither older versions worked?

 

Not yet, I did not want to destroy something that the town might need or that I might be held responsible for.

That barrel is locked, too. And my picklockskill is not high enough.

I´m aware of that. Currently I´m considereing 3 playthroughs - my first with a neutral dwarven techno-gunslinger, the second with an evil halfing thief that treads a balance and the third with a full mage.

I did not yet try further versions. After installing the newest UAP including the hi-res patch I had to re-install the game because it would not start again.