I was just interested in your opinions about who ordered the hit on Geary's whore in Fredo's brothel in Part 2. The actual hit takes place after Michael had made Tom the Don, so it leads one to think the Tom could have ordered it. Of course, after Geary's little speech at Anthony's First Communion, you also have to assume that Michael had plans for the Senator, so maybe Tom was just carrying out orders he had previously recieved from Michael.

I only ask because knowing who thought up and ordered the murder is pretty insignificant if it is in fact Michael who does so. However, if Tom is indeed the mastermind I think it adds an interesting dimension to his character. Having served within the Family for all those years, he obviously had to have been involved previously with some sort of violence, but we never see it in the movies. The only time Tom shows any inclination toward violence is when the target is a horse. Every other instance in the movie where Tom is discussing possible violence, he is trying to convince his Don to maintain peace. Two examples would be Sonny against the Tattaglias and Michael against Roth in the boathouse. Conjuring up and ordering the brothel blackmail shows that maybe Tom wouldn't have been as bad a wartime consigliere as Michael previously thought.