"He gaped in disbelief" was a suggestion. Yeah, it can look pretty silly if it's out of context. I understand if it's a 'fingernails across the blackboard' phrase for you. I'm just tossing suggestings out for having people do things while they speak. And, yes, I believe that he is an investigator. He's not a detective, but he is investigating aspects of the case. Isn't CSI: Crime Scene Investigations? I don't see anything wrong with someone else stating the body has been there about 48 hours. They might have had someone state that 3 days ago, nothing was there, and the body looked like it had been there a while, or the person might have been missing for 2 days, so they might have estimated 2 days, while calling him to get him to confirm or deny that information. Cheers!