Need help force starting a quest

Apart from running into the scripted introductory scene in the Windhelm graveyard, with several guards and citizens standing around the body of Suzanna the Wicked, the Dragonborn can activate the 'Blood on the Ice' questline - as PausePause suggests - by

• Talking to Helgird, a priest of Arkay and mortician at the Windhelm Hall of the Dead, as she is one of the witnesses to the scene with the mutilated body in the Windhelm cemetery (essentially bypassing the need to witness the scene yourself);
• Following the trail of blood leading to Hjerim, the abandoned (and later on purchasable) mansion in the northwest corner of the city, which potentially leads to you being able to pick the lock of the dwelling, and reading one of the pamphlets lying around the house.

Some notes:

• "You can always check whether or not you have met the requirements for the quest to start, as the lock to Hjerim will change from a "key required"-lock to a Master-level lock when the quest becomes available," as suggested by the UESP.
• My suggestion of buying the house won't work to start the quest, since it only becomes available after dealing with 'the Butcher', and having finished the 'Blood on the Ice' quest.
• I suggest not trying to force the engine to start the quest through using console commands, as this usually messes things up, especially commands that reset or skip content, and of those especially the larger-scale ones. Use it only as a last resort, and preferably focusing only on the quest itself (e.g. setstage MS11 10 or 20 [see here for others].
  Be sure to reload a save game from before experimenting with it when something does not appear to help - use as few commands as possible within any given playthrough).
• Tova Shatter-Shield and Arivanya need to be alive, according to the UESP.
• Be sure to read the Bugs section thoroughly if none of the above helps, or ask again in the comments of this answer.