The job began in September, when workers at an impound lot noticed a foul smell coming from a towed Tesla.

The grisly clue would lead to the arrest by Los Angeles cops on Thursday afternoon of singer D4vd, seven months after a runaway girl’s dismembered body was found in the trunk of the pop singer’s abandoned Tesla.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division took the Queens-born pop star, whose real name is David Burke, into custody at a home in the Hollywood hills without incident, police said.

Burke, 21, is being held without bail. The case will be presented to the District Attorney’s office on Monday, when Burke’s official charges are expected to be announced.  

Speaking from the scene where Burke was arrested just hours after the cops made their collar, Robbery-Homicide’s commanding officer, Cpt. Scot Williams told The Post in an exclusive interview that investigators worked diligently for months to build their case.

The source of the odor turned out to be the decomposing, and dismembered body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas.

“She had been dead for a long time before that, and so we were behind the eight-ball from the beginning,” Cpt. Scot Williams, told The Post in an exclusive interview.

“We had to backtrack through the evidence to make a determination as to when she died and then work our way forward from there.”

Investigators then worked diligently for months to build their case.

The singer’s attorneys, Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter also spoke out following the arrest.

“Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David’s innocence,” they said in a joint statement.

Rivas had previously been reported missing by her family in April.

Her body was decomposed and wrapped in plastic, so it took the medical examiner extra time to determine that she was the victim of a homicide, said Williams.

While that was happening, said Williams, officers easily traced the car to Burke, since it was registered to the pop star.

Burke was in the midst of a world tour that would bring him to Los Angeles for a sold-out show at the Grammy Museum, but the alt R&B star canceled the remainder of his shows amid the investigation.

From the beginning, Burke cooperated with authorities.

“There were plenty of ways that we were able to connect her to him fairly early in the investigation,” said Williams. But the suspicion of foul play is not good enough.”

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Here’s the latest on the D4vd’s murder charges of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas:

• Celeste Rivas’ death certificate now says it’s ‘unclear’ if 14-year-old was pregnant when allegedly murdered by D4vd
• D4vd talked ‘losing relationships’ in interview after he allegedly killed Celeste Rivas
• D4vd used chainsaw to dismember Celeste Rivas in his garage: prosecutors
• Celeste Rivas family facing ‘indescribable pain’ after learning brutal murder details
• D4vd’s lawyers hit with vile antisemitic abuse for defending accused murderer: report
• D4vd had ‘significant’ amount of disturbing child sex abuse images on iPhone: DA

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Cops began talking to witnesses, collecting physical evidence and building their case against Burke.

As the case progressed, disturbing details came to light.

A “burn cage” incinerator that is advertised to burn at 1,600 degrees was discovered at the Hollywood Hills mansion that singer D4vd was renting at the time the body of a teen girl was found in the trunk of his Tesla, according to a private detective hired by the property’s owner.

Investigators kept tabs on the whereabouts of the pop star, even tracing his whereabouts to Texas when he visited his family there during the investigation.

Once cops developed probable cause to make an arrest, they collared Burke within days.

Investigators believe he acted alone. More details of the case will be revealed in the coming days.

“There was a lot of outside pressure for [investigators] to act quickly, said Williams. “They were able to put that aside and do the tedious, meticulous work that was needed to ensure we had an airtight case.”

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