@ksen
I think there was a short time skip at least( 1 month considering he got paid ).
It might not be resolved completely, Court chases can take a long time.
But at least they should have found something that hints towards him being right in the time skip that happend( checking the autopsy like was mentioned etc etc ).
They likely checked the court records about the marks too and that alone could be enough to at least open up a new investigation if the bruices were on the wrong spot.
Even if it's not finished just yet, the fact he did find something "from reading the news" proves that he have the basic skills needed already, thus the bonus.