I'm trying to find the event which tells the game to increase the pickpocket/lockpick skill whenever the action is completed. however, I can't find it. Could it be that the damn thing is hardcoded?

i think people use the story manager's lock pick event:

http://www.creationkit.com/Category:Story_Manager_Events

I thought as much, but it is empty in my CK. nothing whatsoever under that window.