Wealth and Power

The book explores how immense wealth corrupts and enables criminal behavior, with characters like Blackton and the Diamond Syndicate using money to manipulate, blackmail, and control others, while the threat of financial ruin drives murder and conspiracy.

The Syndicate's fear of losing their monopoly on diamonds drives them to consider murder, illustrating how wealth and power can corrupt ethical judgment.

The immense financial stakes of the diamond discovery and the power of the syndicate to threaten the Professor highlight the theme.