The bizarre tale of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former pal-turned-mutineer, just got a whole lot weirder.

The foul-mouthed former head of the Wagner private military company — who ran a business empire that included a troll farm, a multi-million dollar catering company, and a media group — had the temerity to launch a mutiny on June 23 against Putin’s top military brass.

The rebellion was quelled by a “deal” supposedly brokered by another Putin friend (some call him “vassal”), Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko. It required Prigozhin to leave Russia and move to Belarus. His men had three choices: follow Prigozhin to Belarus, join the regular Russian military, or stop fighting and go home.

After the mutiny ended, Lukashenko claimed Prigozhin had, indeed, arrived in Belarus. But for weeks, no one could confirm that. Then Thursday, Lukashenko reversed himself, telling CNN that Prigozhin was in St. Petersburg and might be traveling “to Moscow or elsewhere.”

In any case, he said, Prigozhin wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Neither were the Wagner fighters at the camps Lukashenko’s government apparently had set aside for them in Belarus, raising questions about the fate of the Wagner boss.

As if on cue, Russian state-controlled TV began broadcasting video of security forces raiding Prigozhin’s St. Petersburg office and residence. His “mansion” or “palace” had a pool, a private operating room, even a “dedicated prayer room,” as the Russian propaganda website RT described it, along with a few sledgehammers — a tool Wagner is accused of using to murder defectors. The security agents reportedly found 10 million rubles (about $110,000) in cash, along with gold, guns, and wigs — presumably for Prigozhin to disguise himself.

And yet, a few hours later, there were reports that some of his money and possessions were returned to him. It adds another layer to the mystery as to why Putin has, so far, let Prigozhin remain free even as he fails to abide by the Lukashenko deal.

Read the full analysis here.