What Willum and Tansy never learn is that "Rick Steadman" is not actually Rick Steadman, the brave man who risked his own life to save Willum. The intruder is actually an actor, Kemp Hall, who was persuaded by Axel to impersonate Rick Steadman in order to make Willum understand his real priorities. Kemp, playing the nerd, drives Willum almost to (comical) violence as he becomes increasingly impossible to live with. Kemp has also, in the character of a man named Red Graham, been leaving phone messages for Willum, asking him to build a housing estate in Alexandria, Virginia; Axel points out to Willum that this is very close to Washington, D.C., and therefore very close to where Tansy is moving.