Surely another reasonable interpretation is that the EA was just trying to maximise the offer from the potential buyer in question by bluffing them?It transpired that she had made her offer weeks before the EA had told us, that they were in rented accomodation and that the EA had told them that we had already accepted an offer higher than theirs.
In retrospect I can also see that from day one the EA was guiding us to the purchaser. We were happy with the price we got but looking back it is plain to see how we were being used and lied to all along.