The Old Morton Factory

My press badge reads "Thomas Norton, Daily Journal." I'm proud of being an investigative reporter.

I went to the abandoned Morton's Factory to try and solve the mystery of why "Big Dan" Richards, a powerful developer, paid at least four times what it was worth to buy it.

Dust everywhere. Each step stirred up a cloud that flickered in the dim light coming through holes in the boarded up windows. Looked more like six times too much.

Maybe something in the basement that made this junk pile worth more. Found a flight of stairs down. Mistake.

I didn't see the missing stair. When my leg started to go through the opening, I jumped forward to the next stair. Shattered like an egg shell. I fell forward and took all of the remaining stairs to the bottom with me.

Couldn't get back up that way. No apparent broken bones. I started searching for any way out. Even darker now. I tried to be careful not to step into, or trip over, anything.

Ops! Stumbled over something. Well, well. That's why Big Dan paid so much.

Finally found a drain grate. So rusted, that it was easily pried out. Dropped a coin into the hole, and it splashed almost immediately, so couldn't be too deep.

Had to take a chance. Held onto the edge, and lowered myself. Luckily, the coin test was right. I was standing in a couple of inches of water. Took a few minutes to figure out which way the water was flowing. Followed it on hands and knees until I could see a man hole cover.

The police were thankful when I led them to the poor woman's body dressed in a pants suit in the old factory's basement. Big Dan's perp walk was my front page scoop.