How could Vito not have known, way before the meeting, that it was Barzini all along? In explaining to Tom how he came to that revelation, he says, "Tattaglia is a pimp...alone he could never have outfought Santino." Well, Tattaglia was a pimp way before the war began--didn't Vito know that then? And, at the beginning of the Commission meeting, he says, "I want to thank Don Barzini for helping me to arrange this meeting." Since the beef was between Vito and Tattaglia, why would Vito reach out to Barzini, if not to acknowledge that he was the key belligerent? Maybe Vito was slippin'...?
I thought there might be some direction in the novel about this in the, but I can't find my copy. However, maybe Vito's words (as put into this mouth by Puzo and FFC) was a little inaccurate. Maybe they should have had him say that his suspicions regarding Barzini were not confirmed until today. I think that in the novel Vito states to Tom that Barzini never committed himself. So, maybe that's an indication of Vito lack of certainty until the meeting.
