Empty-handed and empty-hearted

After finishing the book, The Crying of Lot 49 is on some levels very dissatisfying. With a cliff-hanger ending like that, it makes the reader very suspicious as to what actually happened during the crying of lot 49. Did Oedipa find the answer to her conspiracy? Who is this mysterious bidder who she is waiting upon? I think that the answer to these questions lie within the reader. An ending like this demands an answer and therefore the reader will fabricate one. Since Pynchon has not finished the plot, I feel like it gives the reader freedom to finish the story however he or she pleases. I personally believe that the whole conspiracy Oedipa is trying to solve is actually a conspiracy against herself.
I may even go as far as to say that the mysterious bidder could be Pierce himself. Every company, store, or theater that Oedipa visited was, in some way, linked to Pierce. In addition, he was a very whimsical man, for whom something this elaborate would not be out of character. He could have, as far as Oedipa was concerned, faked his death. He could have paid off Metzger and all of the other "actors" in his plot. Also, Oedipa was constantly having hallucinations that made it that much easier for her to be fooled.
Whether the mysterious bidder was Pierce or simply a mysterious bidder ultimately does not matter. I feel like the point of the ending implemented by Pynchon conveys a sense of futile searching. Oedipa is constantly searching for an answer to her questions. Whenever she finds information, it does not lead to answers at all, but rather to more questions. Her constant journey did not only take a toll on her health, but it also pulled her from her friends and family leaving her alone and confused. In a way, this ending may do something similar for the reader. It is an ending that forces the reader to search for an answer that he or she will never find. Oedipa poured all that she had into finding what the Tristero was and conclusively ended up empty-handed and empty-hearted.