The Tiger's Wife - Help!

[rosepetal720]

I loved The Tiger's Wife until the end, when I thought she would pull all the loose threads together. I am so confused by that ending. Did anyone else read it? What are your thoughts?

SPOILER ALERT

There are two main things that bother me:
1. Why did the apothecary kill the tiger's wife? He seemed to be one of the few people who cared about her, and he wasn't superstitious, so I don't think he killed her to get rid of the "devil."
2. Who was the person who collected gifts for the dead? It seemed like who he was was very important, like it carried some deeper meaning, but I missed it.

I'm sure once those two questions are answered, I'll have more, but right now, those ones are killing me.