Charlotte Rave, the owner of Rave Fashion and a hot ticket in the industry, is working alone at night in preparation of the debut of her new fall line. She hears someone moving in her workshop and goes to investigate, A mannequin falls over, a cleaver in its head, and Oscar De La Gavant, the self-proclaimed "King of Fashion", steps out of the shadows wielding a knife and says that she's a thief. He comes at her with a pair of hedge shears and just misses, stabbing the mannequin instead. Laughing, he disappears into the shadows.
Searcher soon arrives and stares at Charlotte's star model, Darlene, until Charlotte interrupts. Once Darlene leaves, Charlotte tells Searcher what happened. A month ago her drawings disappeared and mannequins were mutilated, and finally her mysterious harasser attacked her the night before. He left a note warning that if she does her show, it's instead. Searcher remembers that Oscar was one of the most successful designers of the 60s until he went insane. Charlotte says that her studio used to be the House of De La Gavant and figures that the deranged designer is hiding somewhere there, and Searcher promises to find him.
In the women's charging room, Searcher looks for Oscar and asks if anyone has seen Darlene. The buffed female guard tosses him out, and Searcher searches the basement. When he finds nothing, Searcher decides to head back to the dressing room but then hears a sewing machine in the sewers. He looks down and finds a studio apartment, and Oscar shoves him down.
Oscar ties Searcher up and boasts that he was too generous and trusted people like Charlotte and they took it away from him. He says that he introduced Charlotte's fall line in 1966, and now she's using it. The entire world is wearing something he created, and vows to kill everyone who wears clothing... starting with Charlotte.
Upstairs, Oscar lurks in the balcony as Charlotte watches Darlene and the other models rehearse.
Water leaks under the gate that Searcher is tied to, and then a burst of water knocks the gate down.
Oscar begins working at a chandelier bolt.
Searcher looks for a way out of the sewer and comes to an alligator. He runs, screaming, as it grabs his boot. Searcher finds a manhole cover leading up to the street and gets hit by a truck.
The chandelier above Charlotte starts to shake, and Searcher arrives just in time to get the designer out of the way. The falling chandelier lands on him instead, and Oscar comes in with a wrench and prepares to kill Charlotte. Searcher tells him that he doesn't want to do, and says that instead he wants a job and a fresh start. Oscar agrees that he's a genius, and Charlotte says that she never stole anything from him. Searcher grabs the wrench and knocks Oscar out, and Charlotte hugs him. He has her hold the wrench while he goes up on stage and thanks the models for their support. The security guard gets the last kiss.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 23, 2016