Is it possible that by the time of this meeting in Miami that Hyman Roth already knew Michael had caught onto his nefarious scheme, and was simply stringing Michael along until he got another chance to finish off Michael for good? Or did Roth only suspect that Michael had caught on to him, and had hoped for an opportunity to confirm his suspicions using clues from Michael's behavior/demeanor at the meeting?
Roth
had to suspect that Michael had caught onto him, simply because Michael had survived the Tahoe shooting and there weren't many culprits for him to blame. Must have been a very tense meeting for Roth. Then again, he couldn't very well take flight when Michael said he wanted to meet with him. But: since Roth's Plan A was to have Pentangeli blamed for killing Michael, he had reason to believe, before the meeting, that Michael fell for it.
BTW: Just as Michael should have smelled a rat when Roth got interested in the Pentangeli/Rosatos quarrel, Roth should have smelled a rat when Michael said, "Frank Pentangeli is a dead man--you don't object?" Why would Michael need Roth's permission to whack his own subordinate?
Likewise, at what point was Michael convinced that Roth was behind the assassination attempt? Was it even before he left Lake Tahoe? Or was one of Michael's purposes for the Miami meeting to pick some sort of clues from Roth's demeanor/behavior?
I'm guessing Michael was 95% convinced that Roth was the culprit before he left Tahoe. He might have been looking for clues from Roth. But I believe he was 100% convinced when he met with Pentangeli and got him to agree to meet with the Rosatos.
And of course, the barely-disguised confrontation between Roth and Michael that occurred in Roth's hotel suite.
One of the greatest scenes in the Trilogy. Both knew the other knew. But they were still hanging tough--Roth holding out for the $2M, Michael holding out to find out who the traitor was his family. And: Michael first looking weak ("just wanna wait") then turning tough ("Who had Frank Pentangeli killed?"), and Roth brilliantly countering with that magnificent soliloquy. Bravo!
