I was able to win between the two walkthroughs (there’s an Italian one for an older version of the game) and some dumb luck, but I’m not 100% sure how to solve both of these.
For your first issue, this was figured out in the walkthrough thread.
For the second issue, the things I remember doing included finding the locket in the dishwasher, opening it, and unlocking the drawer and getting the phone and attendant papers. I definitely didn’t open the bench or futz around with the albums in my first go-round, nor did I unlock the phone in the apartment, but was still able to leave.
Good luck!