Originally Aired: December 28, 1948
Philo Vance #25, "Rhumba Murder Case,"
When Sally Henderson, secretary to District Attorney F.X. Markham, visits a South American dance studio to learn the samba and rumba, she encounters the mysterious Senorita Rosita Ortega. The dance instructor initially agrees to teach her, but suddenly changes her mind upon learning Sally works for the district attorney, insisting that lessons cannot begin for several weeks. The situation becomes more intriguing when Sally overhears a heated phone conversation between Rosita and a former employee named Reynaldo, a dismissed male dance instructor who desperately needs money and threatens his former boss when she refuses to help him.
The tense exchange reveals underlying secrets at the dance studio, and Sally's professional instincts kick in as she recognizes something suspicious is afoot. When Rosita realizes Sally has overheard the threatening conversation, the secretary decides her boss needs to know about the strange behavior and ominous threats happening at this seemingly innocent dance establishment. What begins as a simple effort to learn the latest Latin dance steps quickly transforms into something far more sinister.