Your interviewers were non-technical but your authority chain (hiring manager?) knows enough about the situation that he/she sent the previous person on his way

Your interviewers were non-technical but your authority chain (hiring manager?) knows enough about the situation that he/she sent the previous person on his way. They may not know why the guy was asking for so much money but they should be able to tell you how much it was and what he represented as business value for said money. If you can't get frank, direct honesty from that person I would consider not taking the position. If you can, and your perception is that the previous director was not creative commensurate with the requirements of this type of position, or worse, was an empire builder, then it's probably no problem.