WEBVTT - Let Me Drive: Violet Charlesworth 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.720 Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:04.000 Zi. 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:05.760 What Elizabeth? 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:07.800 How you doing? 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:09.400 I'm doing pretty well about you? How are you doing? 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:10.120 You look good? 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:12.360 Hanging in there, hanging in there? 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:15.560 Listen. You know it's ridiculous. 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:19.040 Oh girl, I'm glad you asked because I asked you. Now, 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.880 this is ridiculous, right, yes, it is? 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:22.520 What is it? 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.279 American elections like this one is? It's ridiculous. It's not 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.480 like painful tragic. Is the Florida Senate District fifteen special election? 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:31.000 Okay? 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.919 So Florida Senate like the local state Senate, sure right, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.160 They have a District six fifteen special election on Tuesday, 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.720 June twenty fourth, right, right now. The people running are 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.320 replacing a longtime state senator after she passed. Okay. The 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.120 person who initially announced was named Randolph Bracy. 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:48.840 Yeah. 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.839 And then his leading opponent then announced and it was 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:57.080 his sister, Lavon Bracy. His sister decided to go against him, 0:00:57.840 --> 0:00:59.560 and then his mother was there. People are like, well, 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:00.840 this is got to be breaking up with the family. 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:02.840 She's like, no, I'm going to run my daughter's campaign. 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.680 So his mother's running his sister's campaign to beat him. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.480 It's awesome, and it's like he was like, you know, 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.400 since he announced first. When his sister announced, he was like, 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.440 it was disappointing a little hurtful. And people were like, 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.000 well are you why are you doing? And they asked 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.840 her lavon the sister. She says, I'm not, you know, 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:25.839 running against any of them. I'm running for the people 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:27.040 of Senate District fifteen. 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:27.520 Yeah. 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:29.840 So and the mom was like, you know, you can 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.800 see why the mom supports her, And I think, uh, 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:35.800 I don't know who wins, but I think she's got 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:37.920 the advantage because if you if the people here in 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.119 the local like mom took come. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.440 On, no, your mom's size was you They're like the 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.399 family hears he's running, it's like we have to do 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.880 it camp, bringing a team up to absolutely. 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.040 She was like, I don't know if they had like 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.040 a super pack for this Florida State Senate that's all 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:55.280 the campaign adds would be about. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.680 That's incredible, and you know what it is ridiculous, ridiculous exactly. 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:02.720 You know what else is ridiculous? Consu So, I don't know, 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:28.160 this is ridiculous crime a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers. 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.200 Heis and cons it's always ninety nine percent murder free 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.160 and one h ridiculous. I know you've done I've done 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.760 her that so many times. We've really delved into the 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.959 mind of the con artist before. Yes, and there's like 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:48.160 a certain psychology that allows people to manipulate others. What 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.040 I find really interesting, because I'm the one talking right now, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:55.240 is that there are certain blueprints, like classic structures for 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.079 the cons and they get used over and over and 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:58.600 over again. 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.160 Oh okay, yes, like there's con tropes, yes exactly, and 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.040 so we talk about them in rather quick succession and 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.760 like the grand scheme of things here, but it never 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.480 ceases to amaze me the people who fall for the 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.200 oldest scams in the book. 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:14.440 Oh yeah, you know, and I think that's where like 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.680 the magnetic personality comes in, right, tru con artists. 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.720 Yeah, and they get you too distracted from your reasonable mind. 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.040 Yes, yes, because like the con artist overrides all logic 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.960 and self preservation in the mark in order for like 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.519 the scheme to really kick it in that momentary gain, 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.440 and people who are otherwise smart and savvy, they'll fall 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:34.200 victims totally. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:35.800 The smartest possible can fall victims. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.280 And we've said it before that, like a lot of 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.600 wealthy and or powerful victims, they never come forward because 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.320 they're embarrassed. So that makes me wonder how many con 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.040 stories are out there that will never know? 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:50.560 How many drops are in the ocean, Elizabeth, this is. 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.720 A really good question. Thank you Elizabeth for asking that. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.040 The ones you know, they say, they stay secret, they 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.040 skirt the law. They've got to be going on right 0:03:58.080 --> 0:03:59.680 now if you're out. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.640 There, I'm running three four right now the same and. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.600 The situation that you're in mirrors the con stories we tell. 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:06.520 Get help Yea. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.720 By the way, I'm not actually a Turkish shrimp merchant. 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:11.960 You're not, so if you hear anyone asking about that, 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:12.520 just to go. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:17.120 Fronting your operation for so long. The problem is when 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.599 a Turkish shrimp merchant comes to you, like it feels 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:22.640 like you're in it, and it feels unique to you, 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.520 and like you tell yourself all these lies in order 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.320 to have the good story and feel good about this 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:28.600 Turkish shrimp merchant. 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.000 That's exactly because like. 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:33.880 Dashing comes in and it's like yeah, and so like 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:39.479 you know, you see this on various advice subreddits, like 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:41.680 when people are so deep into a story they don't 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.040 get it. Yeah, Like someone posts about their partner or 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.600 their spouse or like boyfriend girlfriend and they're like, oh, 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.800 we have this great relationship except for just this one 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:54.120 thing the art room, and no, this is no They'll 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.640 they'll say, away, this great relationship, there's just one thing, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.400 and then they'll detail what sounds like an actual nightmare 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.840 of being stuck with his total loser. So like a 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.280 lot of times a poster finally sees the truth after 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.520 having written and oh, I saw it in writing or 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:09.880 I said it out loud, Others like have to have 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:11.360 the red flags pointed to it to him. 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:12.360 So like someone's like. 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.400 My husband's really great except for the fact that he 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.400 like pouts and refuses to eat whenever I make something 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.000 he's not in the mood for for dinner, and like, yeah, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.440 he controls the finances so I can't buy other food. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:24.960 Oh yeah, he also throws the food in the trash 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:26.920 and kicks the doors, and he's always like saying really 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.039 rude things to me and calls me stupid idiot. But 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.960 we have a great relationships other than that. Yeah, So 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.440 like those are the. 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:35.440 Three times a day when I feed. 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:39.560 Him, Those are the kind of everyday people who fall 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.360 for scams, whether it be financial or romantic. 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:44.279 That's the stories you tell yourself exactly. 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.760 I'm not victim blaming here, no, No, it's always easy 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.960 to judge from the sidelines because you don't know how 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:50.560 you'll react. 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.000 We're all susceptible to this dynamic completely. 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.920 So anyway, I need to shift gears for a second, Sarah, 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:57.640 let's talk about Edwardy in Britain. 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.120 That's quite the downs, Yeah, it is. I like to 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:03.680 keep you on your toes totally. 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.360 Okay. So this was the period of time from the 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.200 death of Queen Victoria nineteen o one to like beginning 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:13.120 of World War one. 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:14.880 Yeah, the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.880 Yeah, very short era, but it had these lasting effects 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.120 and like people are still captivated, especially with the Coats. Well, 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:28.360 it was all about conspicuous consumption and like crazy class stratification. 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.440 So it's like that this glittering surface, but there's a 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:35.240 rigid hierarchy outward. Respectability was a big thing, and so 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.000 the newspapers at the time were filled with stories of 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:42.719 like debutantes, extravagant weddings, heiresses coming into vast. 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.880 Yes, look at their special children. 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.479 Them and then all the middle class like shopkeepers, bankers, 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:50.440 they wanted in on it, not that they could ever 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:52.800 achieve it. I'm buying a suit, yeah, but they wanted 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.600 to be in the orbit of total so they would 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.920 like fall over themselves to cater to those whims, right, 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:02.000 because they wanted long term paye you know, like they'll 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:05.400 break for security. Yeah. So meanwhile, there are women of 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:09.520 means who did this very like careful dance of social maneuvering. 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.240 And so they had the right clothes, their accent was correct, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:17.040 they had the family pedigree, and everything was networking so 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.520 that the rich stuck together and they'd cut each other 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.720 a lot of slack. And so then into this world 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.200 a gal named Violet Charlesworth. 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:28.160 Floated, Wait, what was her name? 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:29.640 Violet Charlesworth. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.080 You know that one of my best friends in life 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:34.760 is named charles Worth. They grew up across the street 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:36.200 from charles. 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:37.120 Worth, the Charlesworth family. 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:38.840 Yeah, and we used to talk about how rare that 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.880 name is, like he has to be related to he has. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:42.880 To be so we're going to have to do a 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:43.280 deep dog. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.760 Oh, this one's for you, Jese to Jay. 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:51.440 So she exploited the swells with this astonishing audacity. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:52.200 I love this. 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.160 Yeah, so Jay, I'll be proud love for him, So Violet. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.920 She was born May Charlesworth in eighteen eighty four in 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:03.160 Stratford Shure, England. She had three older siblings, her mom Miriam, 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.080 her dad David. He was an insurance agent and a 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:07.400 modest like lower. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:08.960 Local class merchant. 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:14.000 Insurance. I don't know, yeah, so just like every day 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.200 kind of stuff. But then I've also, here's the problem 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:20.680 with this whole thing. For every fact, they're like alternate 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:24.520 facts that get finding the truth in. This is difficult 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:28.160 on stupid stuff like what's her dad's name? What did 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:28.360 he do? 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:30.240 David? 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:33.880 Yeah, it's like he was Richard and he was a tailor. No, 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.679 he was David, the insurance. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:37.080 Guy, Taylor insurance guy. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:42.920 He was like yeah. So violence early years totally average 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.480 for just a working class kid. By in her teenage years, 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.000 she was known locally for her beauty, like she has 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.840 really lovely dark eyes, she had an appealing figure, and 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.839 she had a gift for conversation. She had it all 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.400 and so she and her mother they were very, very close. 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:04.000 She's the baby and sometimes in like later press reports, 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.120 they called it unwholesomely dependent. 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.640 Oh yeah, so there was that kind of a great 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:10.240 gardens thing. 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:15.160 Yeah, yeah, missus Charlesworth. She reinforced Violet's belief that she 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.760 was destined for high society if you are worth more 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.800 than this. Yeah. So in nineteen oh seven, Violet, her mom, 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:27.120 her dad, her eighteen year old sister Eileen, and then 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.200 a chauffeur named Watts who sometimes now people think that 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:37.000 might have been Violet's husband. Okay, yeah, rolled into a 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.920 town called Real on the north coast of Wales. It 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.760 was like a pretty nice seaside resort town back then. 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:48.040 After the chauffeur, I couldn't find anything about this supposedly 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.160 being the husband, aside from I found this book about 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.000 like the history of Real, Okay, so there's just like 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.600 a side note about yeah. And then Violet Charlesworth came 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:00.280 rolling through here and it's just but yeah, I was like, 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:04.280 oh that's interesting anyway. So they're living at this manor 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:09.199 house bod erw Yeah, and so like you, I think 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.960 you can actually stay there now. So but she like 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.480 they captivated and she quickly becomes like this local fashion 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.080 icon in town, and she toodled around in these super 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.000 fancy cars, like the nicest ones in the day. She 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:29.240 wore this really eye catching red motor cloak. Motorcloak, why 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:30.760 are we not all wearing motor cloaks. 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.640 I do like all the early cars being convertibles because 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.600 they're coming out of coaches and wagons and stuff, and 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:37.520 so they're like, oh, yeah, of course we'll save money 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.320 by not putting a top on. It used to that 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:43.520 you to need a motor She. 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.439 Always had her dogs in the car with her fun 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.920 I bet she had a cool scarf game. She must have. 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.600 She must have. So Miriam and Violet, the mom and 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.480 the daughter, they concocted this backstory that she would then 0:10:55.640 --> 0:11:00.400 use to infiltrate the upper class. So violence mom people 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.920 to believe that Violet was the god daughter of General 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.760 Gordon of Khartum. Oh, that sounds believable, and everyone knew 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.000 who he was. He'd been killed in action in eighteen 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:16.000 eighty five while defending Khartum from rebel Muslims in Sudan Ah, 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.200 So he served in Pembrokeshire early in his career, so 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.360 it kind of made sense that he had like the 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.400 real in the area. So she has this famous godfather 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:28.120 and what's better, she had a one hundred thousand pounds 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.800 inheritance from him coming to her on her twenty fifth birthday. 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.720 That's like fourteen million dollars today. We've seen this before, 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:40.040 like people will spot the con artist cash because they 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.560 truly believe the con artist is about to come into 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.839 some serious money, and the con has convinced the mark. Look, 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.200 I'm totally good for it. I'll pay you back double, 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:52.160 maybe trouble sometimes because like I'm so honorable, I'm such 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:52.839 a good. 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:54.439 I really appreciate you looking out for me now when 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:55.880 I don't have it special. 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.200 To me because I don't know about you. But I 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.120 don't lend my like I'll give someone money and be 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.520 pleasantly surprised when they pay it back, but I always 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:05.959 assume I'm never going to see it again. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.040 Do you tell them though, No? No, I mean, like, okay, 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.120 so you lend them and you go through the active lending, sure, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.120 and you just think of it as like like I 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:14.439 have to. 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.280 Be okay with partying with that amount permanently. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.440 So you do kind of believe it'll come back, but 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:20.439 you just don't expect it. 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.640 Most of the time, I don't expect it okay, like otherwise, 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.480 no dice, Like if I can't afford to just let 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:25.760 it go, then like forget it. 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:27.440 I just put the sharks on them. If they don't 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:29.120 pay me back, the sharks are coming. 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.720 I'm gonna be honest with you. Yeah, people don't really 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:34.319 ask me for money. Really, I don't have any. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:35.640 Yeah, you don't hang out with it, but I hang 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:37.679 out with people who are poor. And they were like, hey, man, 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:41.160 as we take turns barring for each other. 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:46.240 The people of real though, they were fascinated by Violet. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.760 Everyone wanted to befriend this beautiful young heiress. So she 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.480 starts up the con can you spot me? She has 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:58.680 all these nice things, diamonds, cars for this manor house. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.800 So like you, you're good for it, and what a 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:06.319 person to have owing you a favor, Harris. So she 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.199 collected money from like a number of suitors and dupes, 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.960 and then she used like the gifts or the loans 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.360 to speculate thousands of pounds on the stock exchange, and 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.520 then she used that to purchase more of the trappings 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:19.800 of her luxurious lifestyle. 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:21.160 Oh, I thought she was trying to make up the 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:21.960 fourteen mills. 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.560 No, she's base but then she props up her con 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:26.559 she looks the more she. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:27.679 Can take and you need a new fer. 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.320 It was unusual at that time for a woman to 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.960 invest in the stock market completely, and one of the 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.200 money one of the money guys she worked with at 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:39.720 the time, said that she had a quote masculine grasp 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:46.720 of business compliment. One one of her victims was a 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.440 former neighbor from before she moved to Wales. This widow 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:56.160 named missus Smith. She loaned Violet four hundred pounds, which 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.319 was pretty much all the money she had in the world, 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:02.400 saved up over a life and Violet was like, look, 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.440 the money's gonna come back plus some. I just you know, 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:07.000 got to turn twenty five. 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.560 Yeah, I just hope nothing happens to me in my 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:09.400 twenty fourth year. 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:15.160 Another victim was doctor Edward Hughes Jones, and. 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.080 She come to Jones Jones. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.240 She cozied up to him. They even became engaged to 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.560 be married. Oh yeah, he asked her, asked her for 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.880 her hand before he knew about the twenty five years old. 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:29.200 He really did like her. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:33.960 Yeah, he really did. He liked her, Yeah, smitten. They 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.920 were like going together. He liked her so much. That 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.960 he loaned her five thousand pounds and she promised to 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:42.880 pay it back as soon as she turned twenty five 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.560 and then like today, that'd be like half a million dollars. 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.160 Oh snap, make sweetheart, can you loan me that's. 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:50.680 More than that's an investment? 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.840 Yeah, but then he watches her just spend the money 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.800 and other funds like water. The average wage at the 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.560 time was like one pound a week. Oh wow, Violet 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:05.160 was spending four thousand pounds a year. Oh yeah, she's 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.680 just reckless. So he called off the wedding. 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:09.440 I'm going to say, people are going to find that offensive. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.360 Sets there's absolutely no way like saddling with. 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.080 This totally, you're going to waste all my money. 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.560 You're beautiful, but you're toxic and so but he's like, ps, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.240 you still got to pay me back, like my cash, 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.480 and she comes no surprise that she didn't pay him back, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.240 had no intention to do so. She also extorted ten 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.280 thousand pounds from a London stockbroker and you know, so 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:33.800 ten thousand pounds, Wow, it's a lot. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.920 Now is using new suitors to get rid of old suitors, 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:38.000 like tell him to go away. 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.840 She's like flitting around she's not just in will she 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.920 goes to London Liverpool. Yeah, so they don't know about each. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.160 Other, but if they do confront her, then she can 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.240 have somebody perhaps, Oh, dare you go step away? 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.040 The lady is mine. So over the next three years, 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.600 like she expands dramatically, and she had this like really 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:00.320 sophisticated system where she had letters from fake lawyer that 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.000 said that her fortune would be released, and she had 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.640 references from people that she'd already deceived and used those 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.880 to dupe the next group Ponzi style. She like would 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.280 go to these local dances and charity teas and like 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.360 reinforce this aura of status, like I have to go 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.000 do all this charity work, always around, always at the 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.040 right places. One of the things she'd done was rent 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.360 a country house near Inverness. It's beautiful up there. The 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.680 property is like it was pure Highlands Monarch of the 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:37.400 Glen stuff like Tartan everything. Wow, she's absolutely gaga over Scotland, 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:41.760 but like chirsty version of Scotland. She bought bagpipes. 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:42.880 Yeah, she's like. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.160 She wore traditional Highland dress and I was like, she 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.440 had a player piano in the home. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:52.160 What's that game? You run with the log and you 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:52.760 try to flip it. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:59.200 Caber tossing giant hot dog. She had this player piano 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.160 only played Scottish music on an endless loop and wow, 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:07.480 Scotland stuff in your head twenty four sevens. So about 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:08.200 those docs. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:09.600 And they did that in Abu Grabe. I mean that's 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:10.080 kind of. 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.040 Keep in mind that, like at this time, identity documents 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.600 totally rare, and there are no credit scores. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:20.800 Oh yeah, it's hard to confirm. You have to have 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:22.640 somebody to go. I know who they are, right. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:26.639 So a letter that had like respectable letterhead, real or. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.440 Forged, Yeah, exactly, good for credit line. 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.120 So by late nineteen oh eight, her scheme is beginning 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:37.840 to unravel, Like merchants who had been promised repayment after 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.199 her birthday realized that like months had gone by and 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:41.879 they're like, wait, when is this Galsberd. 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.720 Yeah, anybody knows. They're like a big calendar in town. 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:48.680 So people are finding out it's like nineteen oh nine, 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.240 January nineteen oh nine, she's gonna turn twenty five, and 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.679 so some of them took out writs for unpaid debts, 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.359 and like gossip starts to swirl in this upper middle 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:04.040 class circles in Edinburgh, uh, London, Liverpool. She's resourceful, she 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.200 just moves on. But then like the volume of unpaid 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:11.040 obligations reached a scale that was just like absolutely impossible 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.240 to avoid. Okay, and so she's up against all. 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.160 This spiders going to the home office, to the home office, 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:17.720 but whatever it is. 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.080 Yeah, like the and they're all everyone's talking and pretty 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.040 soon like someone's gonna file exactly, So they have all 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.439 this pressure. Violet and her mom are like, Okay, we 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.399 need to come up with a plan. They're desperate, but 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:36.520 this this is so crazy. It just let's take a break. Oh, 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.920 you got to sit through some ads first. Okay, there's 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.440 some well, there are plenty more than when we come back, 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:47.719 we're going to ask and answer the question. Will Violet 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:48.840 ever turn twenty five? 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:10.800 Zaren Elizabeth. 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:16.040 Okay, we're in the final days of December nineteen oh eight, 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:16.600 oh and. 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:21.320 Everyone's counting them down. Charles Christmas for everybody, Oh buddy Christmas. 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.760 She's cornered. She's got this elaborate web of credit that's collapsing. 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.160 Around, and is she preparing as cover like a big 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.960 party for herself because she should be excited. No, she's 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.080 just she should be like doing a debutante ball. She 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.160 should be planning like the biggest fever. 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:37.239 But at this point she's like trying to keep her 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:37.560 head down. 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:39.600 Yeah, she's like buying tickets America. 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.400 Everyone had been charmed by her elegance, you know, merchants 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.120 and bankers. They're like, no, pay. 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.760 Me, yeah exactly, I want to be third in line. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.480 And they're starting to get the real rumblings about court action, 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.040 bankruptcy petitions. They're like following her from city to city. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.879 She's bound. Oh so she's creeping up on nineteen oh nine, 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:59.959 the years she's going to turn twenty five. In desperation, Violet, 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.440 her mother, her sister Eileen, and their chauffeur Watts a 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.880