[Taking a little bow;] I appreciate your understanding.

Where should the investigation begin, then? [Then pulling a folded piece of paper (map) out of his pocket, unfolding it, and pointing/drawing imaginary lines all over it with his finger as he speaks;] Right now I'm here [top-right], I'm not sure where exactly you are. If it seems like a good idea to investigate as a single unit, obviously it will likely take longer to cover the entire area [a broad, totally unnecessary sweeping motion] but there will be an immediate and constant source for a second opinion if that sort of thing is required, or if something unfortunate should occur.

Now, if we were to split up, clearly that would be the most efficient way of covering this, but it would be less thorough. In that case, we could continue to communicate via these CAT devices, and could easily split the area into halves [one horizontal line, a pause, and a vertical line], thirds [a "T" shape], or quadrants [an "X" shape].

Since you appear to know the area quite a bit better than I do ((and he's a bit lost without being commanded in some way)), I'll trust your judgment.