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said.
    â€œOh, those were destroyed,” the man said. “This sketch here—like all of Batheson's sketches still in existence—is a study for a painting he never completed. It's interesting how he worked, actually. He made lots of drawings, sometimes more than a hundred, for each painting, and then he worked on the paintings for a long time. And when the painting was done, he would have the servants light a big fire in the drawing room, and he would burn the sketches.”
    â€œWhy?” Xander asked.
    â€œI think it was his own little ceremony to celebrate the end of the project,” the man explained. “That's why the only drawings left arefor paintings he never completed. If you could find a sketch for one of his finished paintings, a collector would pay you a lot for it.”
    â€œSo, did he make many paintings?” Xander asked.
    â€œNo, he was a perfectionist,” the man said. “He actually completed only fifteen oil paintings and a few watercolors. And now only fourteen of the oils are left. Luckily, we have them all here at the V&A.”
    â€œExcept Girl in a Purple Hat ,” Xena put in.
    â€œRight,” the man said with a sigh. “It must have been a stunner. What a loss, when his collection is already so small.”
    The sun was setting by the time they left the museum, but at least it wasn't raining anymore.
    â€œI can't believe we learned so much about Batheson already,” Xena said. “Especially about him living in Taynesbury and that he burned his sketches.” She glanced up at the cloudy sky. “I hope it'll be a nice day tomorrow. I don't want to do our entire investigation in the rain.”
    But Xander had more on his mind than the weather. “I wonder who that model was?” he said. “Maybe she took it. If we could find out who she was, then maybe we could find the missing painting!”
    â€œWhy would she take it?” Xena was intrigued at the idea.
    Xander shrugged. “Maybe she wanted to keep it for herself?”
    Xena considered this. “Or maybe she was shy about it being on display,” she said. “If we could figure out who she was, we might be able to find out more about the painting.”
    â€œLet's see if Mom and Dad will take us to Taynesbury,” Xander suggested. “They keep telling us they want us to see the real England, and Mom was talking about taking a car trip tomorrow anyway.”
    When they arrived at their hotel, the friendly doorman who knew Aunt Mary and the SPFD wasn't on duty. Instead it was the quiet one who acted as though letting them in was a big chore. The elevator had a sign on it saying OUT OF SERVICE so they had to walk up the three flights, with Xander's boots squishing at each step.
    They found their mother in their room, sitting on Xena's bed with a map unfolded in front of her and guidebooks propped up on either side. Xander threw himself down next to her and pulled off his boots and wet socks.
    â€œJust in time!” Mom said. “I have some great news. We found a place to live! It's not far fromhere. Dad and I will move our things into the flat on Monday, while you're getting to know your new school.”
    â€œAwesome!” Xena said.
    â€œNow I'm trying to figure out a fun place for us to go tomorrow. I deserve a break after all this house hunting before I get back to work.” She glanced at the corner of the room, where a bright yellow box waited. Xena and Xander both recognized it. It came from the producttesting company that their mom worked for, testing new gadgets.
    â€œAnything good in there this time?” Xander asked, following her gaze. There'd been a video game that used some kind of new technology last time, and with any luck there would be something equally cool now.
    â€œJust some cell phone,” their mother said. “I haven't looked at it yet. We can bring it along tomorrow, and you can check it out in the car, once we