Meet the Last Chance Detectives

Mike Fowler
Age: 12

As the leader of the Last Chance Detectives, 12-year-old Mike has the ability to inspire. He’s a big dreamer, and his enthusiasm for life is contagious. A modern-day Tom Sawyer, Mike believes in “bigger than life” heroes and feels that nothing is impossible to achieve. He finds his inspiration in books and tries to duplicate the principles he reads about.

His optimistic view on life is balanced by his own painful experiences. The father he worships was a pilot shot down in a secret mission to the Middle East. Although Mike’s father’s exact fate was never clear, the Air Force confirmed his death and sent home his dog tags. Mike believes if he can develop his investigative skills, he might one day uncover what happened to his father. This quiet obsession makes him occasionally moody. His biggest goal is to follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps and be a flyer. In the meantime, he pumps gas and solves local mysteries.

Winona "Winnie" Whitefeather
Age: 11

Winnie is a pretty 11-year-old Native American girl with a tomboy streak. She is part of the Navajo tribe, and her grandmother runs one of Ambrosia’s two trading posts, selling everything from authentic kachina dolls to bogus “meteor” fragments. Winnie possesses keen intuition, and she is a wealth of information about the history and myths of Ambrosia.

Winnie doesn't think twice about hanging out with a bunch of boys. She admires Mike but would never admit to having a secret crush on him.

Ben Jones
Age: 11

Slightly overweight, Ben loves pork rinds, candy and Jolt Cola. A slight underachiever, he has no great aspirations — mainly because he never gave it much thought. In contrast to Mike and Spence, who are very mature for their ages, Ben is all kid. Movies, video games and comics are his inspirations.

He is the first to catch Mike’s dreams and the last to volunteer for the work that goes along with them. He is gullible and easily frightened. Despite his character flaws, Ben is extremely likable, has a heart of gold and is Mike's best friend.

Spencer "Spence" Williams
Age:10

Of African-American descent, Spence is the brains of the group. Though two years younger than Mike, Spence is in the same class at school. Spence seems to be inseparable from his laptop computer and can retrieve any piece of information, no matter how trivial, at a moment’s notice.

Spence can be brutally honest — unaware that he’s hurting feelings. He’s extremely hard on himself when he doesn’t know the immediate solution to a problem. And he sometimes loses sight of the big picture when he gets focused on a single track. Still, Spence is a master at digging up answers.

Meet the Other Folks Around Ambrosia

Roy "Pop" Fowler
Age: 76
Mike's grandfather is semi-retired but keeps himself busy as Ambrosia's “transportation engineer.” He runs the airstrip, tinkers with airplane engines in his hanger and, when needed, repairs cars out of the Last Chance Garage.

Although he’s probably the busiest man in town, Pop acts as if he has nothing better to do than drink Nehi's and reminisce of his glory days as a World War II pilot. He is a wise old sage and storyteller with a way of sneaking important lessons into his stories. After his son died, Pop insisted that Mike and his mom move in with him, and he became a surrogate father to Mike.

Gail Fowler
Age: 36
Gail grew up on a mid-western farm. She’s a natural beauty with a quick wit and a down-to-earth mom who just wants to make ends meet and give her son a good home. Though life has not been easy, she refuses to be a victim and insists on pulling her weight. She keeps the books for the airstrip and diner. Like Mike, she grieves her husband’s loss and sees him reflected in her son.

Emma "Grandma" Fowler
Age: 72
Kate Fowler runs the Last Chance Gas Station and Diner and serves up the best apple pie west of the Mississippi. Kate is of hearty, no-nonsense stock, and the truckers know better than to cross her.

Sheriff (Theodore) Smitty
Age: 56
Ambrosia’s only fulltime law enforcement officer, Smitty carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Coffee and junk food are the fuel that keeps him burning the midnight oil. Never without his cowboy hat, Smitty tends to be judgmental and pessimistic. He believes that time will eventually prove that he’s right. He keeps up a strong, unemotional façade, but he’s a lonely bachelor who’s awkward around women.