In what could be the core of a P.D. James novel, two unrelated events this week are the focus of the art world in Buenos Aires.

First, is the shocking double murder of a former director of the Metropolitan Museo and his brother-in-law, a current administrator of the museum, in the museum early Tuesday evening. It’s being called a murder-suicide revolving around a business issue.

The same day, a painting stolen 8 years ago from a private owner in Buenos Aires surfaced in New York City at a Christie’s auction. Two years after it was stolen, the Pedro Figari painting La Pica, also known as Corrida de Toros, was brought for $80,000 in Uruguay though it was not realized to be stolen at the time. The painting is being returned to its original owner. The person who paid $80k is out of luck.

Ah, what a good mystery writer could make of these two tales.