The elephant is actually something you do need to look at [nothing to pick up]. If you recall, the sound recording evidence that helped you find the place had an elephant squel in it. Seeing the elephant verifies the place could be the place you are looking for. Sadly the game creators just left it as that instead of making something more interesting out of it.
The first game also has lots of "red herrings" in it as the shows often do. As Gil says, a good CSI looks at all the evidence not just the stuff that gets the "right answer".