beat a dead horse vs investigate

beat a dead horse

verb
  • To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason. 

investigate

verb
  • To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information. 

  • To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret. 

  • To conduct an inquiry or examination. 

How often have the words beat a dead horse and investigate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )