In a seedy Los Angeles hotel, The Gamin, a young, lonely woman, has a nightmare in which she is on the beach but is frightened of the approaching surf. When she wakes up, the Gamin orients herself to her dismal surroundings, then looks at herself in the mirror. At first the Gamin appears to be disgusted by her reflection, but is greatly comforted by opening the top dresser drawer and finding a switchblade. Pocketing the weapon, the Gamin leaves her room, although she hides on the staircase as a policeman investigates a case of domestic abuse. After the policeman leaves, the Gamin goes out into the evening air and encounters a dwarf news vendor, who cheerfully offers her a newspaper with the headline “Mysterious Stabbing.” The Gamin gleefully smiles at the headline before tossing the paper aside and walking down a dark alleyway. There, the young woman is grabbed by a Wino, who tries to force her to drink with him. She is rescued by a plainclothes policeman, the Law Enforcer, and watches with relish as the policeman savagely beats the Wino with a blackjack. The Gamin walks away as the Law Enforcer continues to beat the man, but is stopped by the Evil One, a pimp who smooth-talks her into spending the evening with a Rich Man. The Rich Man, a sullen glutton, takes the Gamin to a succession of nightclubs, including one at which he stares lustfully at a samba dancer. The Law Enforcer has followed them to the club, and chuckles at the Rich Man’s lechery. After leaving the samba club, the Gamin is in the Rich Man’s car when she suddenly has a hallucination: She is in a graveyard and is approached by a silent man wearing a black stocking over his face. The man points to a tombstone bearing the name “Father,” and the Gamin looks over his shoulder to see a vision of her Father, a drunken, cruel man who beats her when she comes home. The mysterious stranger then points to a tombstone reading “Mother,” and the Gamin sees her Mother, a slovenly blonde who does not bother to hide from her husband that she is having an affair. Overcome by jealousy and unsatisified lust, the Father shoots and kills the Mother, after which the Gamin stabs him to death. The Gamin then backs away from the graves and her visions, and returns to full consciousness in the car. Unaware that they are still being followed by the Law Enforcer, the Rich Man takes the Gamin to his highrise apartment. There, the Gamin is irritated when he ignores her in order to eat a chicken dinner greedily. After he finishes eating, however, the Rich Man makes a sexual advance to the Gamin, and when she rebuffs him, offers her a huge roll of money. The Gamin is still reluctant, and after the Rich Man pulls her toward him, she pulls out her switchblade and stabs him. The Rich Man grabs her heavy pendant necklace as he falls out the nearby open window to his death. The Gamin races from the building and sees the dead man’s body, surrounded by a silent crowd of people wearing black stockings over their faces. She is horrified to see that he is still grasping her necklace, and when she cannot pull it free, she saws off his hand with her switchblade and runs away. The Law Enforcer gets in his car and begins to chase her, aiming the car’s spotlight at her as she tries to hide in shadowy alleyways. After a long chase, the Gamin comes across a Flower Girl she had met before and drops the Rich Man’s hand, still clutching the necklace, into her basket. As she continues running, the Gamin is suddenly pulled into a basement by the Evil One, who introduces her to a jazz band as they are rehearsing in their dressing room. The Gamin is magically attired in a fancy evening gown by the Evil One and begins rehearsing with the band. Soon she is in the small nightclub out front while the band plays an instrumental number. The Evil One is accompanied by two women, and the crowd also contains other people from the Gamin’s travels, including her battered neighbor and her abusive husband and the Wino. After the band finishes their number, the Gamin joins in to sing with them. On the street, however, a couple irritated by the noise have summoned a policeman. The Law Enforcer enters the club, and the Gamin is horrified to see him accept a bribe from the club’s owner, as well as a payoff from the Evil One. Soon all of the customers begin to laugh cruelly at the Gamin, and the Law Enforcer dangles a pair of handcuffs in front of her. Looking up, the Gamin sees the Rich Man with the policeman, who holds up the Rich Man’s mutilated arm as they both laugh at her. Suddenly back in her street clothes, the Gamin is pressed by the crowd, whose hands reach at her and begin to strangle her. Scenes from her chaotic evening pass through her mind until finally she wakes up at the hotel and realizes the entire episode was merely a nightmare. When the Gamin reaches for her necklace, however, it is not around her neck, and she sees its heavy chain hanging out from the chest of drawers. Going over to the chest, the Gamin opens the drawer and is terrified to see the Rich Man’s hand, with its fingers closing over her necklace. As she shuts the drawer, her screams reverberate through the night.