So possible spoilers if you havent gotten this far. You have been warned!

Ok so onto the problem, i have infiltrated the embassy and am now on the quest that says "Search for Information about the dragons returning".

I have found a note in an office stating about the prisoner in the dungeon downstairs knowing some information so I went down and after killing the guards i found he had been killed. Now ive been searching around for about 2 hours and i just cannot seem to advance on this quest any further. I thought maybe the prisoner might actually be part of the quest but i found a trap door called the "Reeking Cave" that requires a key but I cannot find such key.

Is the prisoner required in order to advance with this quest or is this key is a really well hidden location?

Any help would be appreicated.

I got the same problem. My prisoner is dead also and i am stuck to. No safe game, No nothing. All my progress gone if i have to start over.
I need a key for the trap door. Cant even fast travel out of the party place... more then 10 hours of playing allready in this charachter

I am also stuck!!

My prisoner is not dead. I killed the guard and the mage and talked to him. He's gone to a trapdoor but is now hanging around it cause it can't be opened. After looking around a lot and getting caught a number of times, I got sick of trying and was going to wait for a walkthrough to appear, and go and do something else for a while.

BUT After managing to sneak to a door to "Skyrim" (and not "Inner Courtyard"), I can't get out! I've run along the edges looking for a gate, and tried jumping over a lowish wall but there seems to be some sort of invisible forcefield surrounding the place. Even if I am completely hidden, I can't fasttravel because there are enemies around I've gotten killed over and over and it's REALLY not fun at all.

Please, please can a knowledgeable person tell us what to do???

Someone said before, 'wait around about 1 minute, or reload the save game'

Apparantly if it doesn't come with 1 minute, it will never come at all (imagine a player driving in a cool driver game to pick you up). But its a quest, so if you reload, there is a change the AI can miss the mistake!

Lol reload the save game.. ive been searching for the key for like 3 hours straight ahead and everytime you go in a build and out it overwrite the old save game. So i am doomed and got to start over again?
its the 3rd time i have to start over!

So, if we don't have a save from before we began this quest, we are screwed? This totally svcks. I don't want to start again!!!

Do you think there might be a patch to fix this?

What is it that is supposed to happen after one minute? What event is it that the one minute counter starts from? (The prisoner being left alone after being questioned for a few minutes, and the guard beginning to pace?) If you think this is a spoiler feel free to private message me.

There is a LOT to be said for remaining patient and waiting a month or two to buy the game. The price will have dropped by 30% - 50%, there will be extensive online walkthroughs for everything, and any bugs will have been noticed, fixed, and included in the most recent patches