German cops have recruited three vultures which they reckon could prove handy in locating corpses, the BBC reports.

The trio of airborne detectives – dubbed Columbo, Miss Marple and Sherlock – have just completed a training exercise at the Weltvogelpark (World Bird Park) Walsrode in Lower Saxony, in which a delicious "piece of shroud from a mortuary" acted as an objective for their sharp eyes and keen noses.

Mmmm, juicy
corpse shroud

Hanover police officer Rainer Herrmann said the feathered Poirots "may work much more effectively than sniffer dogs", since they can soar over wide areas of difficult terrain.

Three birds are better than one, the BBC notes, because vultures prefer to operate in groups.

The cunning plan does have one potentially distasteful flaw. According to the Berliner Morgenpost, it has raised concerns that the flying Ironsides might swoop down and feast on the evidence. ®

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