The case of the missing peppercorns

Last Sunday, Owen was exploring the pantry and found a large container of peppercorns. A bit bigger than a coke can, it was plastic and made a pleasing rattle when shaken. The lid was secure, so I let him play with it while I made our grocery list. Within a minute, he had stopped playing with the peppercorns and, instead, stashed them in some hypothetical dimension that is orthogonal to height, width and depth. At least that's what I conclude. He made those peppercorns disappear without a trace. I don't think he ever left the area, and I've checked the floor and bottom shelf of the pantry, and the neighboring cabinets. The peppercorns are gone.