When heiress Sally Jordan is forced to sell a valuable set of pearls, they are sold to the Wall Street financier P.J. Madden through a local jeweller named Alexander Eden. The pearls are to be delivered to Madden in New York by Charlie Chan and the jeweller's son, Bob. However, plans change and the pearls must be taken to Madden's ranch in the Californian desert. But there, mysteriously, a Chinese speaking parrot dies, followed closely by a member of the household. Chan goes undercover to investigate and solves a number of crimes ... whilst Bob Eden meets a beautiful young woman ...