Kate and Benton Rescue Millie and Arrest Padgett

Kate Miskin and Francis Benton-Smith rescue Millie Tranter from Dan Padgett’s hostage grip at the lighthouse by turning the building’s narrow, barred window into an entry point. The rescue depends on Kate’s willingness to force her injured body through the opening, and on Benton-Smith’s physical support and composure when the two officers reach the gallery.

Breaking Into the Lighthouse

With Padgett holding Millie above the ground, Kate judged that a direct approach risked prompting him to throw her from the lighthouse. The women were sent back to the house to keep the crowd from becoming an audience; the rescue would have to proceed without provoking him.

Benton-Smith carried a hammer and a tin of Vaseline to the lighthouse. The lower window nearest the door was about twelve feet above ground, roughly three feet high and eighteen inches wide. Its iron bars were embedded deeply in the stone, so breaking the glass did not create a way through. Kate stripped down to her underclothes, socks, and shoes, then covered herself with Vaseline to make the tight passage possible. Benton-Smith steadied her from the ladder as she edged sideways into the opening, feet first, intending to catch the lower bars rather than risk falling headfirst.

At the shoulders, Kate became stuck. Benton-Smith pushed at her command, dislocating her shoulder in the effort; despite the pain, she ordered him to continue until she was through. She caught a lower bar with her good arm, slid to the floor, and made her way down the stairs. Her left arm was useless, and torn muscles and scraped skin added to the injury, but she managed to unbolt the heavy door from inside and let Benton-Smith in.

Confrontation on the Gallery and Arrest

On the lighthouse gallery, Kate Miskin saw Dan Padgett holding Millie Tranter by one arm while gripping the top rail with the other, as if he too might fall. Fear and hatred showed in his face, but so did a terrible resolve. Kate understood that each word could tip the encounter toward life or death. She moved closer and urged him to listen, telling him that he did not want to kill Millie and that doing so would not help him. Millie moaned and gave sharp cries; Padgett answered Kate with a torrent of obscene, violently sexual abuse.

Francis Benton-Smith offered to try. Kate let him pass, and he edged around the rail with a confidence she had not risked. When he reached Millie, he caught her arm and spoke close to Padgett’s face. Kate could not hear what he said. The exchange lasted long enough to stretch the moment, then Benton-Smith lifted Millie over the rail with both arms. Kate ran forward and held the sobbing girl with her one good arm. Padgett’s hatred remained, but his expression also seemed to hold resignation and a look of triumph.

After Benton-Smith took Millie from her, Kate stood upright, looked Padgett in the eyes, and arrested him. He was manacled and kept under guard in Benton-Smith’s apartment. Kate arranged his transfer from the island through London and the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary; despite the SARS quarantine, the authorities agreed he could not be held there. The rescue ended the immediate threat to Millie, while Kate’s injured shoulder and arm remained the physical cost of getting through the lighthouse and reaching her.

Custody During the Quarantine

Once Padgett was under arrest, the crisis shifted from the exposed gallery to the practical problem of custody. He was placed in an upright chair in Francis Benton-Smith’s apartment, his hands manacled between his knees, and guarded there. He stared into space; only when Kate Miskin entered did he show emotion, directing at her a look of contempt and disgust. Kate contacted London and the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary to arrange his removal. The island’s SARS quarantine complicated that decision, but neither Kate nor Benton-Smith was showing symptoms, and Padgett had not yet been interviewed by Adam Dalgliesh. Kate imagined officials weighing risks and legal procedures, and was relieved that the decision did not rest with her. The authorities nevertheless agreed that Padgett could not remain on the island, making his transfer the necessary next step even under quarantine.

Narrative Significance

The rescue turns on a change in the kind of danger the officers must face. At first, the threat is managed through restraint: avoiding an audience and approaching without provoking Padgett. Once Kate Miskin enters the lighthouse, restraint becomes physical endurance, and on the gallery it becomes a test of judgment under immediate threat to Millie Tranter’s life. The sequence makes rescue a shared action rather than a single heroic gesture: Kate accepts the bodily risk of entry, Francis Benton-Smith supports her, and then takes the lead in speaking to Padgett while Kate waits for the moment to intervene. The arrest completes the reversal from hostage crisis to custody, but does not erase its cost: Kate’s injured arm remains evidence of what the rescue demanded.