Need help understanding external recruiter's role in this hiring process

I've worked with a lot of external recruiters over the years - both contingent and retained - as both a candidate and a client. But I'm kind of flummoxed by the external recruiter I'm currently interacting with for a position. I'm wondering if any HR/recruiters on this board can provide insight. I'm interviewing for a c-suite role in a small company with a new CEO. I initially interviewed with internal HR - great first interview in early February. She was very enthusiastic about me and my background - even discussed potentially bringing me in within the next few weeks. A week later, I get an email from an external recruiter saying she was taking over the recruiting process. So we talk, basically retread the initial conversation and she says she'll get back to me in a few weeks. I ask her for the interview process, but she's pretty vague about it. At the start of March, external recruiter emails saying I'm moving to next round, she'll contact me in a few weeks to set up interviews. A week later, she emails me asking for my availability through April 5. I give her lots of time and I get scheduled at the very end of the month long interview window. This interview is with the members of the executive team, so I ask external recruiter to give me some background on them - pretty typical prep for this type of role. But she tells me she doesn't have much info on them. OK....??? So I reach out to the internal HR contact and she gives me a good summary of the people. I also ask her about the next steps and she says that it should move pretty quickly at this point. Last week I had a really great series of interviews with the exec team. I emailed the external recruiter after to let her know how it went and ask about next steps. Several days later I get an emailed response that they are "still interviewing top candidates," and it will be a few weeks before she can let me know about next steps. I'm so confused. My experience with external recruiters is that they usually know something about the client and are really vested in giving the candidate info and updates. Like explaining what the process will be upfront, being explicit about the number of people being interviewed in a particular round, helping to prep for interviews, calling after interviews to see how they went, etc. I know that some clients can be unpredictable during the process, but recruiters usually find a way to convey that and still provide information to candidates. I'm really interested in this opportunity, but honestly, this recruiter experience is turning me off. I'm trying to understand what her motivation is to be so limited in her information giving. Is it possible that because I was sourced before she was brought on that she won't make a dime if I'm selected in the end? She mentioned at one point that they are handling other recruiting activities for the company - is it possible that this isn't a contingent or retained search, but just contractually paid, regardless of hiring outcome? Is there any value in me asking her some clarifying questions at this point? Or should I just hang tight and wait for next steps?