Last Chance in Vegas

Last Chance in Vegas
First edition
Author	Jonathan Pinnock
Cover artist	kid-ethic
Language	English
Publisher	Farrago Books
Publication date	2022
ISBN	978-1-78842-429-5
Preceded by	Bad Day in Minsk
Followed by	The Code of the Vavasors

Last Chance in Vegas is a book by Jonathan Pinnock. It is the fifth in the Mathematical Mystery series and was published by Farrago Books in October 2022.

Blurb

On the trail of a couple of missing alpacas, disaster-prone Tom Winscombe has somehow ended up at an online gambling convention in Las Vegas.

With the assistance of his mysterious new companion Ada, his quest takes on a dangerous turn as he finds that this time he has some hungry wildlife to contend with, as well as a cast of disreputable and downright dangerous human characters.

As the stakes get higher and his chances of survival drop lower, Tom finds the only solution may be to forge an unexpected alliance with someone from his past. Will he end up with a winning hand, or will everything fall apart like a house of cards?

Critical Reception

The reception to the book was generally extremely favourable.

Summary of Plot

Following the events of Bad Day in Minsk, Tom has retreated to his father's static caravan to lick his wounds and look after Dolores and Steven, the alpacas. One day, he receives an unexpected phone call from Ali asking him to be the donor for her and Patrice's baby. He agrees, but a more urgent problem arises when he realises that the alpacas have been stolen. The only clue as to the thief is a key, attached to a small rubber duck.

Tom visits Ali and Patrice to discuss donor arrangements and while he is there, he asks Ali if she can track down where the key fob might have come from. She manages to trace it to the Luxxy Duxxy Corporation, a defunct manufacturer of novelty rubber ducks, one of whose properties - in Basingstoke - is also occupied by Merritt Foods, owned by the American billionaire and Institute for Progress and Development donor, Robert J Merritt III. Tom resolves to go to Basingstoke to find out what's going on. He also asks about Dorothy and it turns out she is currently on an extended visit to Third Uncle in Macau.

While attempting to break into the Luxxy Duxxy offices in Basingstoke, Tom encounters the mysterious Ada, who is doing something similar. Tom and Ada manage to find out that there is something unusual going on there involving Robert J Merritt III and some dodgy software but then they are discovered and they have to make their escape via Ada's high-performance motorbike. Ada drops him off back at the caravan and disappears into the night without explaining anything about who she is or why she was there.

Tom finds out that there is a cyber gambling convention coming up next week at the Robert J Merritt III Convention Center in Las Vegas the following week, so he decides to go there to tackle the mystery at its source. After checking in at the Heartbreak Motel, he inveigles himself into a temporary job at the convention center, working in a team under boss Jolene alongside Maria and Jésus. It turns out that Merritt himself is in town, staying at the presidential suite at the top of the El Gran Pelícano hotel and casino across the road. Unexpectedly, there is a need for someone to do some electrical work up there and Tom volunteers, despite knowing nothing about electrics.

Tom is introduced to Don as the man in charge in the suite. Eventually he manages to gives Don the slip and goes exploring, ultimately finding himself inside an artificial jungle, in the middle of which he finds a computer room that reminds him very much of the set-up at Luxxy Duxxy. The jungle also turns out to be home to a ravenous liger, which Tom escapes just in time, only to find himself face to face with Don once again. He explains to Don that he was looking for a particular tool and Don drives him out towards the desert to find one. It soon becomes apparent that Don in fact intends to dispose of Tom, but he is unexpectedly saved by the arrival of Ada on a Harley Davidson. Ada sets fire to Don's vehicle and leaves him there, taking Tom back into Las Vegas. Ada drops Tom off back at his motel, bit not before mentioning that she is actually Ada Vavasor.

Tom finds that his room has been ransacked, although nothing is actually missing. He goes out and kills time in a bar whereupon he is spotted by Jolene and Don. He escapes by diving through the bathroom window and eventually makes his rendezvous with Ada, who is staying at El Gran Pelícano. They go out for a meal and she reveals that she is the daughter of Isaac Vavasor, and that she is in Las Vegas because her electric bike got infected with ransomware which she traced back to the Luxxy Duxxy offices in Basingstoke. After Tom tells her about the computer room in the penthouse jungle, they deduce that it must somehow be connected with the ransomware and possibly also the theft of the alpacas. They decide to break in, but in order to do this they need to assemble a team, including someone who knows about big cats.

Next day, they head out to the nearest zoo, Big Kitty's Live Action Ranch. The place turns out to be deserted apart from Waldo, who is very keen to join their gang as he has a deep-seated hatred for Merritt. They also need someone who has knowledge of the geography of the penthouse, so they recruit María as well. María explains that the best way into the penthouse is via the balcony, which is in fact a disused swimming pool. The plan is to climb up to it from Room 3204 below, so Ada orders a rope ladder and grappling hook from Amazon. María also tells them that there are rumours of a high-stakes poker game taking place in the next day or so, involving Merritt himself, and they decide this would be an excellent time to carry out the break-in while everyone's backs are turned.

Next day, it turns out that the big game is on that night, so Tom, Ada and María scout out Room 3204, narrowly avoiding being caught when Don and Jolene also show up with the intention of using the room for an illicit tryst. Later on, the three of them, plus Waldo, assemble in Ada's room. They prepare the climbing equipment and then go back up to Room 3204, which is now definitely empty. They remove a pane of glass and Tom manages to hook the ladder on the side of the balcony above. After a precarious ascent, he finds his way into the penthouse, where it turns out the others are all waiting for him because the emergency exit door was in fact already open.

The team start to make their way to the jungle, but they realise that they're not the only people there. After a lot of hiding in side rooms and scurrying along corridors, they realise that it's Don who is snooping around. Ada makes a split-second decision to draw him away by making a break for it by running to the lift. Don follows down the stairs and the rest come out of hiding. However, there still seems to be someone else lurking around there.

It turns out that it's actually Dorothy, who has come here to help Third Uncle who has been coerced into taking part in the high-stakes poker game going on in the casino below on behalf of Wendell Xiang. Dorothy suspects that Merritt is using a computer system to help him cheat in the game, and she is on a mission to sabotage it. The four of them now enter the jungle and Waldo pacifies Thelma the liger while the others access the computer room. Dorothy sets up a fake feed to give Merritt useless information and then she starts hunting for the ransomware system. However, at this point, they see on the video monitor that Third Uncle has collapsed, possibly as a result of food poisoning. They cook up a plan whereby Tom will take over from him, basing his plays on a feed from Dorothy into an earpiece. Dorothy explains this to Xiang and Tom goes down to the casino.

Tom takes his place at the poker table along with Merritt, Novak and Wild Cat Willy Dunoon. Things go very well at first and Tom recoups much of Third Uncle's losses. However, during a break, his earpiece falls out and gets crushed. The game continues, disastrously for Tom. However, eventually it seems that Dorothy has noticed up in the penthouse because the fire alarms suddenly go off and chaos takes over. Tom makes his way up to the penthouse on foot and arrives to find that Ada has returned but is being held at gunpoint by Don. Tom knocks Don out and frees Ada. They tie Don up and leave the jungle, only to find themselves being chased by an armed and angry Jolene. They head out to the balcony and make their way back down the rope ladder to Room 3204 and thence to the ground floor.

At this point, they get separated and Tom is detained by Wendell Xiang and taken down to the basement car park, where he is held at gunpoint along with Dorothy and Third Uncle. Xiang is preparing to have all three of them killed but it turns out that Dorothy has tipped off Merritt, who shows up with Don, Jolene and a couple of others. There is a brief shoot-out, during which Xiang's Hummer is blown up and Xiang and his gang are killed. Tom, Dorothy and Third Uncle escape into the conference center.

While they are hiding there, Dorothy explains how the ransomware scam worked and gives Tom a spreadsheet giving details of all the devices that have been hacked. She also says she has installed some software in the building network that enables her to control everything including the lighting and sound and she uses this to try to confuse Merritt, Don and Jolene while they complete their escape. However, it doesn't work and Merritt and his goons corner them. However, at this point, María and Waldo show up with Thelma in tow. Waldo releases Thelma, who takes off dragging Merritt behind her, followed at a careful distance by Don and Jolene. They surface into the Las Vegas strip and hurtle off into the distance, followed by Tom and Dorothy, who leave Third Uncle safely behind in the convention center. Half way along, Ada turns up on her motorbike and there are some awkward introductions.

Finally, everything converges in a side street where there is Spiro's Kebab Restaurant, which turns out to be a favourite of Thelma's. Merritt attempts to pacify Thelma with a kebab but she is having none of it. Instead, she mauls Merritt and Don and Jolene abandon him to his fate. Then María and Waldo turn up. They pacify Thelma and the three of them head off into the night in Waldo's truck. Tom and Dorothy return to the convention center to retrieve Third Uncle, but are once again cornered by Don and Jolene. Just as they are about to be taken hostage, Ada turns up with the cops in tow and Don and Jolene are arrested.

Dorothy flies back to Macau with Third Uncle and Tom and Ada head back to the UK, where Ada gives Tom a lift home. Unexpectedly, it turns out that Ada knows Tom's father, back in the days when they both used to work at festivals. Before leaving, she tells Tom that his father is actually one of the good guys, which is the first time he's heard this. Next day, Tom does his duty as sperm donor and goes back to the caravan to tell his father that he's going to be a grandfather. During the subsequent conversation, his father is very amused to find out that Tom wasn't aware that Ada is in fact trans.

Shortly afterwards he gets a call from Ada. After an awkward discussion about her gender status and how that might or might not affect their relationship, she tells him that she's found something on Dorothy's spreadsheet - a reference to 'llamas'. They both realise that this must be a reference to Dolores and Steven, who perhaps have had some kind of chip embedded in them and hence picked up by the ransomware app. They both independently track down Great Pelican Farm, a place owned by Merritt, and they arrange to go over there. On the way there, Tom reveals that the alpacas belong to Margot Evercreech, who turns out to be Ada's mother. He also tells her that he, Dorothy and Margot were both there when her father was killed.

After collecting Dolores and Steven, they take them back to his father's place. Tom wonders aloud whether they might have belonged to Archie and Pye Vavasor at one time and that perhaps the chips embedded in them might contain some lost secrets. So they try to make a connection to one of them and it turns out that they are running their own local area network, called 'Archimedes'. Tom fires up the browser on his phone and sees nothing but a swirling fractal pattern. Ada encourages him to tell Dorothy about this. After some hesitation he does so and she replies immediately that she'll be on the next plane back to the UK.