Granted, Clark County Sheriff Bill Young is a professional law enforcement officer with 26 years experience on the job. But we’re betting he didn’t need to use much of that knowledge when he asked the key question in the Review-Journal’s latest story in the ongoing scandal regarding the Royal Links golf course that owner/developer Bill Walters wants to turn into a subdivision.

And that question is this: Why in the hell didn’t Deputy City Attorney John Redlein insist that then-Director of Public Works Richard Goecke be fired for allegedly breaking the law to help Walters get a lease on the land to build a golf course in the first place?

“If, in fact, these were crimes then, and you were in a position to deal with them, what did you do?” Young told the R-J. “Did somebody veer you off of [the investigation]? That’s the question that begs to be answered. I think the city now needs to look at that.”

Oh, boy do they. Because, according to Redlein’s memo:

• Goecke ordered a soils report on the site and then gave a copy exclusively to Walters. When confronted by a deputy city manager and Redlein, Goecke allegedly lied, only to confess later that he’d ordered the report at Walters request. As a result, the report had to be given to two other bidders, and the entire project sent out to bid again.

• Goecke advocated that the city provide water to Walters new course, a change in the scope of the project that could have radically altered the bidding process, which Walters won by default after his two competitors dropped out. Again, the city decided to follow his advice.

• Goecke allegedly decided Walters could build on an extra 29 acres that was not included in his original bid, since the land wouldn’t been needed for expanding the city’s nearby sewage treatment plant. Once more, the city amended its lease to incorporate the extra land.

• Goecke allegedly tried to get a city contractor working on another project at the site to build $2.2 million in improvements — at taxpayer expense — to help Walters build a high-pressure water pumping station to irrigate his golf course.

Now, Young’s question is our question: If Goecke really did all those things and if they were, as one Metro detective said, felony crimes, why didn’t Redlein demand his superiors fire Goecke, if not prosecute him criminally? And, if they failed to do that, why did he not go to the police?

Calls to City Attorney Brad Jerbic to ask just those questions have not been returned. But we have a couple theories:

• Theory No. 1: Redlein felt constrained by his attorney-client relationship with the city. Going outside the city, even to report criminal violations, might violate that privilege, and any prosecution arising therefrom would be doomed to failure.

Our answer: Redlein has no attorney-client relationship with individual city employees; he represents the people generally. If he had knowledge that a crime had been committed, and that it was either being ignored or covered up, he had an ethical and legal obligation to report it, in our view. He’s not a lawyer for the City Council, the city manager, his deputies or anybody else. He’s our lawyer, or at least he’s supposed to be.

(This, you’ll recall, is why former President Bill Clinton was forced to hire his own lawyer in the Monica Lewinsky case, and why things he said to White House lawyers were not subject to attorney-client privilege: Government lawyers work for the people, not for the individuals who serve in government.)

• Theory No. 2: Redlein did take his concerns to city management or the City Council, and they were ignored and/or covered up.

Our answer: Former Mayor Jan Jones told us Tuesday night that she was never aware of any legal violations by Goecke, although she was aware of amending the RFP for the golf course and adding the 29 acres after construction began.

Jones contends the property had no value — it was located adjacent to the sewage treatment plant and the Las Vegas housing boom had yet to take off. (Even if it did, she explained, it wouldn’t matter, since homes could not be built on the land due to the deed restriction.) Turning it into a golf course and getting lease payments was better than letting the land sit fallow, she reasoned.

“I don’t remember any nefarious conclusions, It wasn’t like there was any secret stuff,” Jones said.

Plus, Jones argued, things couldn’t have been as bad as Redlein says if then-City Manager Larry Barton didn’t fire Goecke. That’s an interesting argument. But what if Barton couldn’t fire Goecke, because he was protected by someone else? The only person who could have protected Goecke was Jones herself, and she’s denied there was any wrongdoing on the original lease of the course.

• Theory No. 3: Redlein’s memo was exaggerated or just plain made up.

Our response: It’s not likely Redlein made anything up, given that he documented specific times, places, dates, and participants to conversations that could easily be checked to verify his contentions. Ad the city’s official actions — a second RFP, an amendment to add 29 acres to Walters lease, selling treated wastewater to Walters — are matters of public record.

Could things have been exaggerated? That, too, seems unlikely: Redlein flatly accuses Goecke of lying when confronted about the soil sample report, a serious charge. And given that Goecke retired just two months after Redlein penned his memo — in the midst of a Metro Police investigation into even more shenanigans out at the course — the old saw about smoke and fire may apply.

Which theory is right? Young told the R-J he’s not holding his breath for the answers.

“I’m convinced we probably could have gone forward with something (criminal charges) if this was the present tense. If all this stuff really went on, why didn’t we deal with it at the time? I’ve never been able to get that question answered yet. I probably never will.”

Don’t worry, sheriff, we at Various Things & Stuff are on the case. In fact, the case has reached Post-It status, wherein we put it on a little Post-It note in our office, a daily reminder to check out what’s going on so the story cannot possibly slip away.