"Hey there," you say. "Anything interesting going on around here?" Lou thinks it over. "Well," he says, "a few thugs recently showed up at the farm, causin' all kinds of trouble. I don't know where they came from or who they're working for, but I know they're bad news." He holds out a coin. "I could use them off my farm. You lookin' for work?"
Take the coin and the job. Tell Lou that Horatio sent you. See what changes. Refuse the offer. Search the scene on your own. More plausible deniability if something goes wrong.