[*][/list]
If Roth had waited until Havana to murder Michael
[list]
[*]Roth would have gotten Michael's $2 million
[*]Roth would have used Michael's own money or part thereof to pay for Michael's own murder
[*]Such a terribly unfortunate death, caught up in the midst of the rebel uprising in spite of being escorted in a military car
[*]Nobody suspects any foul play because Roth loved Michael like his son and Michael was Roth's heir apparent
[*]Roth carries on living like a retired investor on a pension with no Michael burrowing into Roth's empire
I covered all those points in a long-ago thread. Sure, everything Roth did in trying to kill Michael was risky. But, the reason Tahoe was Roth's Plan A was that it pointed the finger at Pentangeli, and set up the Rosatos to take over NYC as Roth either ran or fought it out with them. Roth was so hot to take advantage of that golden opportunity to get rid of Michael that he would have foregone the $2 million. In fact, Roth probably told Michael, before Tahoe, that $2 million would be the price he'd have to pay to be anointed Roth's heir in Cuba. So, if Michael had been killed at Tahoe, suspicious minds (like Neri and Rocco, who were in on on the deal) would have seen that Roth didn't get his $2 million--another reason not to suspect Roth.
And, his Plan B, which he probably had in mind in case Plan A failed, was equally brilliant: the finger of suspicion still pointed at Pentangeli, and Roth would still get the $2 million, though he'd have to pay part or all of it to have Batista's thugs kill Michael.
But, Roth made four critical blunders:
--Pentangeli didn't run. Roth didn't see that as a sign that Pentangeli was confident in his innocence--and had the
coglione to believe Michael would see it that way.
--Michael, instead of having him killed (as he told Roth in Miami), dispatched him to "settle these problems with the Rosato brothers." Roth should have seen that as proof that Michael didn't suspect Pentangeli in the Tahoe shooting--meaning that he might suspect Roth.
--He didn't think Michael had the brains to figure out that Pentangeli wasn't smart or ambitious enough to have planned and executed the Tahoe shooting simply to get Michael off his back in NYC.
--Most important: Roth was too greedy for the $2 million. He could have had Michael whacked in Havana at any time and made it look like an unfortunate casualty of the rebels. But, no, he held out way too long.
The genius of the scene in Roth's room in Havana after the doctor leaves: It's almost obvious that both Michael and Roth are on to each other--and each knows it. But, they're still playing the game: Roth is holding out for the $2 million and Michael is holding out to find out who was the traitor in his family.
