Samantha was recently divorced from her gentleman farmer husband. Well-educated, well-spoken, with a captivated, refined voice and elegant mannerism, she was also artistically gifted.

After being made redundant as a teacher, her objective swiftly turned to how to become rich quickly. She began a journey of deceit, pleading poverty to her friends and people that she met; she was very convincing.

Samantha was always dressed in charity-shop clothes and had an amazing ability to persuade and manipulate complete strangers to carry out jobs for her for free.

Even as her ever-expanding property empire took shape, ranging from poorly furnished student digs in England to a renovated barn in the Dordogne, rural France, Samantha relied on the charity of her friends.

Her story eventually led her to Monte Carlo, where she met a prosperous man, but that relationship did not last long, along with several others.

And then Samantha disappeared. Nothing. For four years.

Until one day, she reappeared and was unrecognisable. She was rich; she had reached her goal - but time was running out for her.