THE epic story of Raymond Scott – truly a tale of Shakespearean proportions – produced a cruelly fitting final scene yesterday: a tragedy.

Antiques expert, book dealer, Pot Noodle lover, eccentric, fantasist, alcoholic, liar, fraudster, thief. In his time, Scott, who was found dead yesterday, played many parts.

Likely we will never know whether the blame for the priceless Shakespeare First Folio disappearing from Durham University library in December 1998 lay at his feet.

Even Mike Kelly, perhaps the man who knew him best – having co-authored with Scott the “inside story” of his case – remains uncertain.

“He would give two or three different versions of what might have happened,”

Mr Kelly said last night.

“He never directly said he did it. He alluded to it; but then always qualified it.

Often he would say, ‘But that’s just a fairy story’.

“I would suspect the evidence is he probably took it.

But with Raymond, nothing was ever straightforward.”

Legally, Scott was cleared of theft, but convicted of handling and transporting stolen goods.

In a letter to The Northern Echo from prison last March, he urged: “Go out and buy the book, don’t nick it from the library.”

Scott wanted the volume, initially titled Shakespeare and Love, published today: March 15, the Ides of March.

Instead it is set for public unveiling, as Stealing Shakespeare, in June.

Mr Kelly met Scott every day during his court trial and has exchanged letters with him ever since.

“His spirits seemed to be high in prison,” he said.

“He got on with it. He talked about all the friends he had made. He seemed at home, as much as you could be. He seemed to have come to terms with it.

“He was always philosophical and upbeat.”

Asked about working with him, Mr Kelly said: “It was tricky. He drove me mad at times. He’d come out with two, three or four versions of the same thing.

“But over the two years, we became friends. I got to like him.

“People saw him very superficially.

He’s a lot deeper than people think. He was very intelligent and well read. He would quote everything from Bruce Springsteen to Rousseau.

“I think he was just disappointed with his life and he tried to cover it up with grand gestures.”

By 2008, Scott had run up nearly £100,000 of credit card debts and 25 convictions dating back to 1977, mostly for petty theft.

In public, Scott loved to play to the crowd. His theatrical court appearances saw him turn out dressed as Bonny Prince Charlie, Boss Hogg, Che Guevara, a City banker and an international playboy.

But his true character remained a mystery.

Alas, poor Raymond: we knew you not.