OP mentioned about reviewing escrow service, it's not really a concern, as long as both agree, it's a small issue, the problem is the amount that needs to be transacted
It is possibly one of the craziest things I've seen since i started seeing this forum 
Are you confused? if it's an intermediary escrow service, maybe we can do online transactions instead of cash like you said?

just a little concern, the amount is too big for me to interfere, keep an eye here and see what OP does next, really curious