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“Is there any way to find out who owns them and their locations?”
“You mean the 17 wells?”
“Yeah.”
“It hasn’t been publicly released yet. It will come out as soon as the case is settled. That’s when I think oil companies will scramble to pick up new leases.”
“I really need to find out the landowner’s names for those 17 leases in question. Is there any possible way to find out now?”
“If it’s that important to you, Jeff, I can’t promise anything, but I have a former colleague who works in legal for Superior. I could ask her. No promises though.”
“I’d appreciate it. I can’t tell you the details now, but it’s really important. Call me back if you find anything.”
“Will do.”
***
While Jeff seemed to be progressing in the case, Deputy Stassin was getting worried. He felt a great deal of pressure from his superiors and needed to make an arrest soon. If no arrest was forthcoming, he risked getting pulled off the case, where it would be reassigned to another deputy or the State Police. He could kiss his chance of becoming the next sheriff goodbye if that happened. Stassin still liked Eddie as his primary suspect in the case. He even considered pulling Eddie back into the station for further questioning to see if he would break under interrogation and confess. At least, this would give the appearance of progress in the case. It might even satisfy the press and the Sheriff for a while. He dismissed this idea because he had no direct evidence against Eddie and couldn’t articulate a solid motive. Stassin desperately needed a break and decided his best approach would be to re-interview all the people of interest again. The clock was ticking.
***
Jeff stopped by Rich Wrobleski’s office on the outskirts of town the next day when Rich told him his source had produced something very interesting. “Hey, Rich. It seems like you must have a pretty good source at Superior Oil to have gotten a response so quickly.”
“Yeah, I do. She’s a person I worked with years ago, and we actually dated a few times back in my single days. She’s a great person to have in your corner and has helped me out several times. All it costs me is lunch when this whole thing ends.”
“So let me show you what I’ve got.” Rich pulled out a spreadsheet that displayed the owners and locations of the 17 properties. Jeff quickly scanned the list. As expected, Cyrus Campbell appeared as the page’s third name. “So Jeff, just so you’re clear, these 17 are the ones that have been identified by Superior as wells that were drilled using the slant drilling approach. Until this court case, Superior never shared this information, even with the landowners. Some wells are within 100 feet of their neighbor’s property. That virtually guarantees that some have been extracting oil from adjoining properties without sharing it with the owners. As you can see, Cyrus Campbell has been doing this along your property line for years. I assume this is why you wanted to see the list.“
“That’s a part of it for sure. So what is the likely outcome when the court case is closed?”
“Most likely, the court will order Superior to reimburse the adjoining landowners for some portion of the oil extracted from under their land. Superior will then go after their current leaseholders to claw back the money. This is another reason why people need to read these lease contracts carefully. I’m sure none of them ever believed they could be held responsible for fraud or mismanagement committed by Superior Oil.”
“Once the case is officially adjudicated, there will be an effort to sign up new properties like yours to leases. Superior knows precisely how much oil resides on your property. They just keep that data to themselves and never share it with the landowner. That oil well they drilled on your property several years ago may not have been dry. They may have just realized they could access it from Cyrus’s property without leasing your land. That’s why I hope you guys at Roads End go with my company, Liberty Oil, moving forward.”
“Thanks for that, Rich. This is great information. Hit me up when you pay for that lunch for your source. It’s on me!”
Things were now starting to make some sense to Jeff. He understood the severe money problems Cyrus was facing. He wondered how long Cyrus had known about the slant drilling issue. It was apparent why Cyrus didn’t tell any Koehlers about it. Jeff now knew Cyrus had access to the flask, potentially access to water hemlock, and severe financial problems. One final puzzle piece remained missing, and Jeff knew just the person to talk to.
Chapter thirty-four
Eddie Koehler attended his Friday night poker game in the back room of the Knights of Columbus Hall. The group of seven guys met every Friday to play Texas HoldEm. The group included a banker, a real estate broker, three local businessmen, and a politician, besides Eddie. Eddie usually didn’t answer his phone during the game, but his cards sucked, and the call came from Jeff.
“Hey, Jeff, what's up? You just rescued me from losing money in tonight’s poker game. I can’t believe my luck is so bad I can’t even win a hand with aces in the hole.”
“I need to talk to you tonight in person about something important. Can you stop by my house?”
“You sound serious, Bro. I will wrap up here within the hour and stop by. Do you want to give me a sneak preview of what we’re talking about?”
“Best to wait until we can talk in person. See you in an hour.”
“Make sure you have a cold one ready for me when I arrive. I’m gonna need it after the way these cards suck tonight.”
Eddie returned to the game, extremely curious about what his brother wanted to discuss. I’ve gotta finish this game, he thought, because I can feel my luck changing. Almost immediately, he caught a king on the river and took down his first pot of the night.
Ninety minutes later, Eddie pulled into the driveway and walked right in the front door of his brother’s house. They grabbed a couple of beers and adjourned to the office upstairs overlooking the lake. The peace and tranquility of the evening belied the tough conversation ahead with Eddie. The time had come for his poker-playing brother to come clean and lay all his cards on the table.
“Eddie, I need to ask you some questions, and I need you to be 100% truthful with me. Can you do that?”
“Wow, you seem so serious. When have I not been truthful? Fire away!”
