In the third installment of the Charlie Chan mysteries the diminutive Chinese detective who hails from Honolulu finds himself back in San Francisco after his incredible adventures in the California desert with the previous book, The Chinese Parrot. A former head of Scotland Yard comes to town hot on the trail of a 15-year-old murder, where the significant clue is a pair of Chinese slippers. There is also the mysterious disappearance of a series of women, one of whom the British inspector believes may be linked to his case. When the English sleuth is himself inexplicably murdered in a social gathering, it's up to Charlie Chan to figure out the guilty party, and solve the related mystery.