The Midnight Thief at the Diamond Safe
When a daring burglar and a treacherous servant targeted the famous Etchin diamonds, a young woman faced a terrifying ordeal to protect the loot.
Arthur, my brother, was a prominent attorney whose offices were in town, but he conducted much of his business at our private home. His best client was Sir Etchin Eckford, an Italian judge who possessed the famous Etchin diamonds. One evening, Arthur received a parcel containing the gems. He put them in the iron safe in his bedroom, but I noticed a man looking in from the tree outside. Later that night, our servant Jane woke me, whispering that burglars were in the house and our man Jenkins was their accomplice. Fearing for the diamonds, I climbed out onto the veranda, entered Arthur's room, and retrieved the box. Jane and I fled, hiding the diamonds in a hollow oak tree. We were discovered by three men, including Jenkins. They tortured me, demanding the location of the jewels, and eventually threw me into the lake to drown me. I lost consciousness, only to awaken to find that help had arrived just in time. The villains were captured, and I was rewarded for my bravery with a magnificent bracelet.
“They looked around for the box, and not finding it, with awful oaths and threats bade me say where it was. My only reply was to shriek aloud.”
This dramatic report of a Victorian-era home invasion reflects the timeless, high-stakes nature of security and property in Seattle—a city that has always balanced its frontier expansion with the protection of private wealth. While the 'Etchin diamonds' evoke a more romanticized age of crime, the underlying anxiety about safety and the presence of 'suspicious men' remains a fixture in local reporting.
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