"On the Rocks"

              "AVA's 2026 Platinum Award Winner"

Norwood & Cross, P.I. – Episode 5: “On the Rocks”

Summer heat, a cramped trailer, and a husband who didn’t make it to happy hour.

When a man turns up dead in a sweltering camper kitchen, his wife insists it was just a tragic accident. But something doesn’t sit right—and in this heat, the truth won’t stay frozen for long.

Join Nicole Norwood and Jason Cross as they dig into a case where tempers flare, alibis melt, and the murder weapon may have vanished without a trace.

Because sometimes… justice is best served cold.

 Credits: 

Created, written, and produced by: Jody Lebel    vojodylebel@gmail.com         

Directed by: Nick Omana -   nick@nickomana.com 

Project Manager and Editor: Mark Winkworth - mjwinkusa@gmail.com 

Recorded at: Munjoy Studio – Mark Winkworth 

Foley/Sound Engineer: Tyler Walker – tyler.walker56@gmail.com 

VOICEOVER CAST: 

Narrator: Mike Coward   stocos28@gmail.com 

Jason: Max Culter   maxbcutler@gmail.com 

Nicole: Rachel Vega,  rachel@rachelvegavo 

Medical Examiner:  Amber Ba’th,  iamamberbath@gmail.com 

Victim’s Wife: Ronni Spitz, ronnishope@aol.com 

Zorana Sponsor:  Jeanine Orci, jeanineorci@gmail.com 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

They always say they didn't do it. The spouse, the neighbor, the guy with blood on his shirt.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Some days the city stinks of old coffee and desperate lies.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

But today, I have to say it smells especially bad in here.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

That might be my fault. I hit a sandwich in the filing cabinet yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

This is Norwood and Cross, Private Investigators. Where the cases are cold, the alibis don't add up, and the copier is still out of toner.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

I think Nicole's finally warming up. She only rolled her eyes at me once today.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Let's open the file, shall we? Welcome back to the world of private investigations. Where the crime scenes are cramped, the suspects are sunburned, and at least three people are barbecuing within 10 feet of a body. Meet Nicole Norwood and Jason Cross. Divorced private detectives, currently roasting in a camber bark that smells like a citronella candle and poor decisions. She's a precision instrument in heals. He's flying on instinct with a half-melted notepad and a deeply held belief that sunscreen is just big lotion trying to scare us. She's analyzing footprints and blood splatter. He's in a folding chair asking if anyone else saw that squirrel acting weird. Together, they're Norwood and Cross P.I. solving murder in the great outdoors, one mosquito bite at a time. Summers bring out the best in people barbecues, road trips, family time. But they also bring out the worst. Sweltering heat, sunburns, and sometimes murder. This week, Norwood and Cross find themselves in a trailer park where the iced tea is sweet, the air conditioning is non-existent, and the alibis are melting faster than the crime scene. Grab your sunglasses and stay hydrated. Things are about to get sticky. Our story opens in Jason's old El Camino, where he's making his way to the crime scene with Nicole in the passenger seat. Nicole's car, a pricey little foreign affair, is still in the shop. She's fanning herself with a manila folder and trying to roll down the window.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Is this thing stuck? Does it even roll down?

SPEAKER_01 2:28

I'm not sure. I never sit over there.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

And are the seats supposed to stick to my legs?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

That's just the vintage vinyl. They don't make them like this anymore.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

That's a blessing. And what is that odor assaulting my nose? It smells like old beef jerky and the ghost of one very poor decision in the back seat.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Hmm, yes, that brings back memories.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Oh man, I miss my car. At least it has air conditioning and doesn't require a tetanus shot to enter. Oh, look, there it is on the left. Unit C12. The one with the lawn flamingos at half tilt.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

The trailer looked tired but stubborn, determined to stay the course no matter what. It squatted low like it had been rooted in that dusty patch of earth for decades. The front porch area sagged under the weight of time, casting a tired shadow over a rickety metal lawn chair with one bent leg. On the lawn next door, if you could call it a lawn, an old-fashioned water sprinkler tried its best to keep the grass from dying. Jason pulled up next to the medical examiner's car, wiped his forehead with a fast food napkin, and then threw it in the back seat. Nicole rolled her eyes but kept her comment to herself.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

This one's so fresh the coroner is still here. Would it be unprofessional if I walked through that sprinkler? Never mind, I can see the answer in your eyes. So, what do we know going in?

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Dead husband. Wife says it was an accident. No signs of a break-in. My contact at the police department called us, which usually means something doesn't smell right.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

They spoke to the young officer who was manning the entrance area, then made their way to the kitchen of the little trailer where the body still lay. Medical examiner Pierce was wrapping up her examination. She removed the blue tech gloves with a snap and placed them in a contamination bag. She handed Nicole a copy of the first officer on scene notes, then pointed to the countertop by the sink.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

This area here is where he allegedly hit his head. You want the official calls of time of death, right? Until I get him back to the lab, I can't be 100%. But I can tell you it was blunt trauma to the back of the head. From the body temp and lividity, I'll place the time of death at about four hours ago.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

I don't see any traces of blood or hair on this counter edge.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

No, you don't. And you won't either. The crime scene tech swabbed the entire counter edge and found nothing.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

There's a nice pick in the sink. That's been ruled out, right?

SPEAKER_03 5:06

The killing force was blunt, not sharp. Cracked his skull. He died instantly and just dropped where he stood. According to the neighbors, the victim's wife had run over to their campsite shrieking that there had been an accident. They all rushed back and found the deceased, knew immediately he was dead from the sight of him, and called 911 on their cell phone. They claim no one touched the body or entered the kitchen area.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Nicole and Jason studied the victim. The dead husband's body had crumpled straight down in an awkward slump against the sink cabinet, his arms at his sides. Blood had coagulated around the large wound on the back of his head. They noted that there was a sizable puddle of water on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

This insulated ice bucket on the counter still has pieces of ice. They're not cubes of ice, though. Seeing how there's an ice pick, maybe these chips are from a larger piece. It appears as though the victim had turned to deposit some chips of ice into the bucket and maybe slipped and fell and whacked his head. We need to speak to the wife. Is she still around?

SPEAKER_03 6:27

The wife is out back.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

They made their way around to the rear of the trailer and found the wife outside under the awning. She swished the contents of her glass before taking a deep gulp of iced tea, then leveled a cool stare at Nicole and Jason, who were trying to keep out of the hot sun by crowding in the tiny area with her.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

According to the preliminary notes, the neighboring campers heard you two fighting a few hours ago. You want to tell us about that?

SPEAKER_04 6:54

It was just the heat. There's no air conditioning in that little camper. What were you fighting about? Okay, listen. I found out about his little red head on the side, okay? And it wasn't the first time he'd been unthankful. So I couldn't take it anymore, and I just started screaming at him.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

So your story is that your husband was chipping ice for drinks, slipped and smashed his head on the counter?

SPEAKER_04 7:20

Sounds good to me. Yep. That's how it happened. Are you almost done here? I'd just like to get out of this heat. Woo!

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Nicole pulled Jason a few feet away from the grieving spouse.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Jason, go get the officer at the door and tell him to cuff the heartbroken wife here. Read her her rights and bring her in. And let her finish that iced tea. Might be the last sweet thing she tastes for a long while.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

10-4. How did Nicole arrive at her conclusion? Solution. There was too much water on the floor for just ice chipping, as well as no trace of blood or DNA on the counter edge. The wife caught him cheating. When he turned to drop the ice chips in the bucket, she snapped, grabbed the block of ice, and struck him from behind, then dropped the block and ran. And in this heat, that weapon didn't last long. And just like that, the summer heat wasn't the only thing melting away. Another tangled web unraveled beneath the sagging awning of a trailer park. Where secrets simmer, stories collapse, and sometimes the cold truth hits harder than a frozen grudge. Tune in next time for more private iantics, because around here, the only thing colder than the iced tea is justice served on the rocks. Next time on Norwood and Cross PI, beauty may only be skin deep, but murder cuts to the bone. When Cosmetics Queen Meredith Gray is found dead in her car, flawlessly made up but fatally shot, detectives Nicole Norwood and Jason Cross uncover a case smeared with secrets, scandal, and smoky eyeshadow. Was it a jealous husband? A jilted mistress? A business deal gone bad? Makeup to die for. Because the right shade of betrayal goes with everything. And now a word from our sponsor, Madame Zarana's Mystic Emporium, offering palm readings, aura scrubbings, and her exclusive new service, past life speed dating.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Seriously? That quacks psychic again?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Hey, her last horoscope nailed it. Remember when she told us you will come in contact with someone who will lie to you.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

That's everyone, Jason. Exactly! She's never wrong!

SPEAKER_05 9:47

Still single? Maybe the problem isn't you. It's your former selves. At Madame Zorana's mystic emporium, try my newest service. Test life speed dead in it. You'll meet all your former incarnations in one emotionally chaotic evening. A Viking who couldn't commit. A flirty Victorian ghost who quoted sonnets uninvited and dead once a year. A Spanish-speaking soldier who hid in the woods for five months eating only mushrooms and bark. Confront. Forgive. Possibly ghost yourself. Sign up today and receive a complimentary soul name tag. And your choice of herbal what was I thinking, tea? The only blend guaranteed to taste as sour as your past mistakes. Madame Zorana's mystic emporium, where closure meets time travel, and everyone lives slightly embarrassed.