What Mystery Could Take Place Here?

What mystery could take place here? I’m using this photo for my first Monday Sparks this month because my theme is mysteries, and this building was the inspiration for the abandoned home in my latest Rae Riley mystery, A Riddle in the Lonesome October. At least, I think it is.

Let me explain. When I was learning to drive, my dad would often direct me to drive into the most rural parts of our county, Belmont County, Ohio. I remember on a spring evening seeing an abandoned building. My dad thought it was the county children’s home. In my mind, I always remembered that building sitting by itself in a lonely field.

Fast forward several decades. I used my memory of the home as a setting in my first Rae Riley mystery, “A Rose from the Ashes”. When I returned to Belmont County three years ago for a library program, I tried to find the abandoned children’s home. This building in the photo is not the way I remembered it. But as I drove the route Dad and I used to take, I didn’t find any other candidates. The building in reality sits much closer to the road and is much bigger than I remembered. So either my imagination changed the building, or I didn’t find the right one.

Either way, this building presents a lot of potential for crime fiction. What mystery could be take place here?

Here are more writing prompts for mysteries.