Edouard is an art collector and gallery owner in New York. One day, his companion and competitor Audrey comes by to discuss the news that came out in the paper the day before: esteemed eighty-year-old artist Maurice Malherbes burned seventy-eight of his original paintings, including both exhibited and un-exhibited works, because he felt they were second-rate art. The artist stuffed them in his porcelain stove. Edouard at first feels disinterested with the news and is unsure why, but after Audrey leaves, the collector realizes he has a printed copy of one of Malherbes's paintings in a catalog. He comes up with a plan and invites Audrey over for dinner the next month.

When Edouard goes to meet Audrey at her gallery to take her to dinner, he brings with with him a brown package, obviously containing a painting. He opens up the package for Audrey, and it contains a Malherbes painting from 1937 "Skull with Owl," one of the ones that had supposedly been burned, with a single burn in the upper corner. Edouard explains that the painting was not burned because it did not fit in Malherbes's small porcelain stove, and the artist was too eccentric of a man to cut up the painting. Audrey immediately goes to grab a painting herself, which also happens to be Malherbes's "Skull with Owl."

Edouard and Audrey became close through a mutual dislike of American painter Ben Howard. Howard was an expert at copying the likes of many great painters so that they appeared to be originals, and he sold his work to Edouard to re-sell to his rich patrons. One day when Edouard was visiting Audrey's gallery, Howard stormed off from a meeting with Audrey. Audrey and Edouard agreed that Howard's demands had become too outrageous, and the two both dropped Howard and began scheming and teaming in a mutually beneficial friendship.

While Edouard and Audrey are debating which of their copies is a better rendition, they are invited to a Malherbes exhibition put on by a respected art foundation. When the two arrive at the exhibition, they see an unburned "Skull with Owl." When the two ask the curator how she came upon the piece, she excitedly tells them how it was not actually burned, and an American painter named Ben Howard sold it to them. While Edouard and Audrey cannot know for sure whether the painting is real or fake, knowing that Howard is putting himself at risk if he sold a fake painting to such an esteemed foundation, the two admit that they owe their careers to the Ben Howards of the world.