right Steve its story time , are you sitting comfortably?
i dont have all facts on this case and what i do have comes from a book called encyclopedia of reptiles amphibians and other cold blooded animals[octopus books 1975].
keeping in mind your former career i may have slanted this story slightly in favor of the police.

the time the 1920's the place USA the state not specified.
a group of dunce like detectives had arrested a man who they felt certain was responsible for a number of murders,these fumbling flatfeet however could not produce even one body to make their case stick, never the less these calamitous coppers were firm in their belief that he was the guilty party.
It was suspected that the killer had sunk the body's in the local lake,a somewhat murky stretch of water, finding them would be extremely difficult perhaps even impossible as this was before the invention of the aqua lung.
with no further clues and even less idea what to do next our inept investigators made several trips to the lake, where they did no more than just stand on the banks and stare across the water, hoping perhaps that a body might surface and give them the break they so desperately needed.
on what they had decided would be their last visit to the lake our gauche gendarmes were approached by an elderly Indian who claimed he could locate the body's of the victims.
the offer was received with some derision by our obtuse officers and they were about to refuse when one of their number with infallible logic suggested they accept the old Indian's help, after all he argued what have we got to lose,its a loverly sunny day just the weather for being outdoors and any way by the time we get back to the station all the doughnuts will be gone so whats the rush.
the decision to accept the assistance was proving a good one as they could barely contain themselves as the old Indian produced a huge snapping turtle with a line attached to its shell , they were laughing so much one of their number had to take a trip to the nearby trees before he wet himself.
unfazed by the gross disrespect being shown to him the Indian released the snapper into the lake and watched as the string played out further and further into the lake , when it stopped the Indian went to the spot and found the snapper feeding on the body of a victim, and using this method the old Indian located all of the body's

thats the story Steve and although you probably never noticed i might have embellished it just a Liiiittle but the main facts are in there.

perhaps using your silky sleuthing skills you can track down this story to it source, after all you were known as the herlock somes of Ohio