“I was,” Rylan said nodding.
“How upset was Robertson when it didn’t go through? That was a lot of money,” I remarked.
“It wasn’t about money for Lawrence,” Rylan told us. “It was about being in control of what happened to his land long after he died.” He smirked a bit and added, “And, to make sure his nephews didn’t get any money off the land they wanted no part of until it was convenient for them.”
“Can we have the names of his nephews please?” I asked. “We’d like to interview them.”
“Sure,” Rylan said, opening a file. “Scott and Mark Robertson. They both live and work in Cincinnati for Greg Sharpe Homes. You probably already know this, but Scott and Mark pitched the idea of selling the land to Greg Sharpe so he could build a new subdivision on the land.”
“Was Mr. Robertson open to that idea until he learned that his nephews would profit from the sale?” I asked.
“He was,” Broadman confirmed. “He was adamant that they would never own or profit from the land and even had McCarren add clauses to prevent it from happening.”
“McCarren was okay with that?” I asked, unable to keep the surprise from my voice.
“I was surprised also,” Broadman admitted. “Honestly, he seemed eager to help Lawrence thwart his nephews. There were other surprising clauses that he agreed to.”
“Such as?” Dorchester asked.
“Lawrence wanted a guarantee that a certain percentage of profit was put back into the county schools, library, and hospitals. He also had asked for money to be given to local law enforcement to purchase modernized equipment. Lawrence just felt that the county would benefit more from the casino than another housing development.”
“It would’ve brought thousands of jobs to the community,” Dorchester said.
“Yes,” Broadman agreed. “It’s all water under the bridge now. I’m surprised you brought it up.”
“We’re not convinced it is water under the bridge,” I said then explained to him that we thought the casino talk might’ve started back up again. “Had he mentioned it to you?”
“No,” Broadman said in surprise, “but he did schedule an appointment with me for next week. I thought maybe he wanted to discuss trust business, but my receptionist, Lucy, said he evaded the reason for his appointment.”
“Can you tell us the names of the men you met with during the land sale negotiations?” Dorchester asked.
“Sure, I can,” he said confidently then proceeded to rattle them off the top of his head. “Drew McCarren was present a few times with his lawyer, Rick Spizer, and then there was Michael Larkin and Tommy Thompson. Michael was the development guy, and Tommy was the money man.” I sat up straighter when I heard that McCarren had the same attorney as Nate and Jonathon.
“How did the negotiations go?” I asked. “Were there any tense moments or disagreements over the terms?”
“There was only one heated moment in the beginning,” Broadman told us. “Apparently, Drew McCarren doesn’t usually get involved in the actual negotiations because he has a team for that. Lawrence wanted to be able to look McCarren in the eye and assess if he was a man of his word. Larkin was pissed because he felt like Lawrence doubted his character. Larkin implied that Lawrence’s demand for an in-person meeting with McCarren would be a deal breaker, but it seemed to have the reverse effect. McCarren appeared to be very honest with Lawrence.”
“You didn’t get an underhanded or sneaky vibe from any of them at any time?” Dorchester asked.
“Honestly, no. It was going to be a circumstance where both parties seemed to come out ahead in the deal.”
“One last question,” I told him, “and then we’ll let you get back to your day. Alice mentioned that the nephews were making noise about Mr. Robertson being unfit to handle his affairs. Is that true?”
“Lawrence did tell me that, but there was never any evidence to substantiate his claim. He couldn’t tell me of a single incident where one, or both, threatened him in any way.”
“Odd,” I remarked. I wondered if perhaps Robertson was paranoid when it came to his nephews. I rose to my feet, and Dorchester did too. We pulled cards out from our jacket pockets and handed them to Broadman. “Please let us know if anything comes up.”
“The safe deposit box,” Dorchester mentioned to me then looked at Broadman. “Does the box need to be audited by the county clerk before we can look through the contents?”
“Lawrence had a trust, so there will be no probate. The contents belong to the trust, and I’m the trustee, so you won’t need a warrant to search the box. I’ll check with the bank to see if they’ll accept my permission in writing or if I need to be present.”
“We’d like to get in there today, or tomorrow at the latest,” Dorchester told him.
“That won’t be a problem, Detectives. I’ll rearrange my schedule if needed,” Broadman assured us.
I’d dealt with lawyers hundreds of times during my career, and I could honestly say that none of them had been as helpful as Rylan. “Thank you for your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you,” I said, shaking the man’s hand once more.
There wasn’t anything local left for us to look at so we headed to Cincinnati to update the task force on what we learned. We ordered in lunch and gathered together in the large conference room we’d taken over.
