Why would we recieve earnest money back before closing?

Today We are supposed to be closing on our first home. It has been a very long process due to two liens on the title That needed to be cleared. Three hours before closing our Realtor told us to bring almost $1000 more cash then we are supposed to be paying. (Paying cash) so were confused as to why and our Realtor was told That They gave out $1000 earnest money back already. Well we never received a check or any kind of notification that we Were to be getting it back. Shouldn't our Realtor have known if we received the money back? Why would they give the money back to us since the contract was never expired or canceled? Does anyone think that they are playing games with us to? The title company has made this a very slow and complicated process with minimal communication on their part until they were threatened with a lawyer.