Of course, from the get-go, it's more like fiction than a news story: Estate sale, item from attic, auction set at $10,000–12,000, and, blooey! bidders take risk that a painting is no copy but a real Rembrandt. Final price: $1.4 million. Waaaaaay too pat (even if true), and, yet—what would you do with it? What story would you tell?
1. A rich crook drops a fantastically large sum of money as a prop for an illicit scheme.
2. A 17th C woman artist paints an introspective self-portrait.
3. A Rembrandt painting that crossed the Atlantic was hidden by a recluse in Maine—why?
4. An expert knows a painting is a forgery but is blackmailed into keeping his mouth shut.
5. An expert knows a painting is a genuine but de-authenticates it for seriously selfish reasons.
6. Or—?
Have at it!