Page 6 of Pretty Poison

His annoyance only made Felix smile wider and Jonah laugh harder. Rocky wanted to be pissed at them, but he was usually the one causing the trouble. He deserved every second of the shit Felix gave back to him.

“He’s transferred to Savannah,” Felix told Jonah. “Does that sound like someone who wants a divorce to you?”

“Not at all,” Jonah piped in as if they’d rehearsed this attack.

“Have you seen him again since then?” Felix asked.

“Nope. And that’s enough chitchat about Asher,” Rocky said when they reached the first floor. “I want to talk about Tess Hamilton.”

They exited the elevator and stepped off to the side.

“What’s up?” Jonah asked.

“I received an email from Jennifer Blossom, and she’s decided not to participate in our show about Tess.”

Felix’s brow furrowed. “She’s the claims adjuster who uncovered the forged life insurance beneficiary change form for hubby number three, right?”

“Yeah,” Rocky said. Jennifer’s assertion became the catalyst for the insurance fraud charges filed against Tess. Afterward, the conversation changed from whether Tess forged documents on a dying husband’s life policy to whether she killed all three of her husbands.

The prosecutor had only found enough evidence to charge her with insurance fraud for her third husband. The first trial had ended in a hung jury and the second with an acquittal. The case had hinged mostly on circumstantial evidence, but that hadn’t stopped the press from trying and convicting her, not only for the insurance fraud but for the deaths of all three husbands.

“Did Jennifer say why she was withdrawing?” Jonah asked.

“She’s worried about losing her job,” Rocky said. “She didn’t mind speaking to me off the record when I’d first started putting the idea together for the podcast, but that was early days beforeSinister in Savannahhad taken off.”

“I can understand her position,” Jonah said.

“Me too,” Felix agreed.

“Feels like we’ve hit one brick wall after another when it comes to Tess,” Rocky admitted. “I’ve sent dozens of letters to her friends, families, and former coworkers and followed them up with phone calls. No one wants to speak to me. Tess Hamilton must’ve surrounded herself with the most loyal people on the planet.”

“Or they’re afraid of her,” Felix countered.

Felix had been convinced from the very start that Tess Hamilton was a cold-blooded killer. Jonah had leaned more toward the mercy killer angle, since all her husbands had been seriously ill at the time of their deaths. Rocky thought she’d just been very unlucky in love. Since the three friends couldn’t agree on the level of Tess’s guilt and innocence, they’d decided to take a different approach.

They’d planned to interview all the participants together, then present the evidence to support their angle. The other two hosts would try to disprove it using the evidence they’d uncovered to support their theory. In the end, they’d let their listeners decide for themselves if Tess was guilty or innocent of killing her husbands. Without interviews, it would be next to impossible for them to proceed.

“There will be cases that just won’t work out for us,” Jonah said. “I think Tess might be one of them. There’s no concrete evidence to prove or disprove her guilt or innocence. Her husbands were cremated without autopsies, so we can’t even say for sure that foul play occurred. All we have is speculation, and that goes for Jennifer and her handwriting expert. It’s junk science.”

“It’s too soon to wave the white flag,” Felix said. “I say we take some road trips and knock on doors. It will be much harder for people to turn us down in person.”

“I could easily shut the door in your face,” Jonah countered, making Rocky laugh.

“I have a last-ditch plan,” Rocky said. “Tess’s youngest son also lives here in Savannah. I’m hoping I can reason with him.”

“Do it in person,” Felix suggested.

“Not my first rodeo, Fee,” Rocky replied dryly. He glanced at his watch again. “I really do need to get going.”

“To meet Asher?” Felix asked.

“Nope.”

“A client?” Jonah inquired.

Instead of answering, Rocky said, “Are you jackasses available for breakfast tomorrow?”

“Sure. Meet you at Daisy’s at eight?” Felix asked.