The East Avenue Murders (The Maude Rogers Crime Novels Book 1) by Linda L. Dunlap

sight of her black boots, noticing they were scarred a little from wear and tear. She decided they were presentable enough for what she had to do. The M.E. certainly wouldn’t care.
    Clothing was always an easy issue for Maude. She didn’t care for skirts or dresses, preferring long pants, especially jeans when she was off work or when her bosses let her get away with wearing them to work. In lieu of jeans she chose creased fitted slacks with front and back pockets, a wrinkle free tucked in blouse and a winter or summer blazer, depending on the season.  She owned several blazers in various colors.
    He weapon was carried at the waist in a holster, no purses or handbag holster for her. She wanted to be ready to reach the weapon quickly if she needed it. All of her identification was in her coat’s breast pocket and was easily accessible. There were diamond studs in her ears and a gold chain with a cross pendant around her neck. On her right hand she wore a simple gold ring without any adornment. The ring was very important to her. A sturdy wristwatch worn on the left hand completed her wardrobe.
    Maude Rogers was an attractive woman although she would never have agreed with anyone who said such a thing. The years had treated her attitude badly, but time had been kind to her skin leaving few wrinkles to give away her age. Most people thought she was nearer fifty than sixty.
    The few people who were close to Maude knew some of her history: she was once married to a man who went to Viet Nam and never returned. The letter had come to her as it came to so many women, informing her of her husband’s loss in one of the conflicts in that far away country.
    Maude was bitter toward the army and toward the world for a while. She had been married for three months when the army took her husband Paul away in his fine starched uniform. They sent him back in a locked coffin with n o access; they said his body was riddled with bullet holes, his face unrecognizable. The identification of the man she loved had been made from the dog tags around his neck.
    She never remarried or became serious over any other man. Paul Rogers had been the love of he r life.

Chapter 5
    At about twenty minutes to ten Maude was completing the last of the morning’s reports, getting ready to finish them with her signature when she looked up to see her young partner’s bandaged head and big grin. Maude couldn’t totally suppress a return smile even though she tried.
    “Are you always this cheerful?” she asked him, “or do I just make you happy? Well, never mind, I’m glad to see you made it through Saturday with nothing more than a few stitches.” 
    “Yes ma’am, they told me I was real lucky. Said the knife that old boy stuck me with nearly cut my eye out. I’d like about five minutes with him someday, just me and him on level ground.” Joe’s wish for revenge was pretty common among law enforcement officers who had been attacked, however; given the opportunity to get even with the attacker, the usual response was ‘he isn’t worth my job.’ Maude wasn’t worried that Joe might be a loose cannon looking to get even.
    “So,” she sniped at him, “ are you ready to go to work or do you need some time to go straighten your shorts?”
    “Sure, he said, “ I’m ready. Let’s go.”
    The Medical Examiner’s office was about four blocks from the station, located in the criminal justice building where most if not all the county offices were housed. The basement was devoted to the M.E. and the morgue with its cold storage lockers and stainless steel tables. 
    Doctor Edward Keller, the pathologist who autopsied the victims of murder and suspicious deaths was also the coroner filling a dual position in a small county. There was one assistant to the doctor, Theodore Hollingsworth, a forensics expert who retired from the FBI and settled in Madison. Bored with retirement he sought some part- time work in his field. He was keeping his hands in the