Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby (Vanessa Williams) is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.
December 1924, Karl Denke fails to smite Vincenz Olivier with a pickaxe. He would have been his 31st victim. The film thus reconstructs the mind, motivation, and psyche of its main character in intense dialog between him and the inspector.