How does Holmes use his imagination to solve crime? Use a specific example, and also contrast this use of the imagination to that of Watson.
Holmes uses his imagination insofar as he conceives of more than one interpretation for any apparent fact. For example, he is the only one who pieces together that Stapleton and Miss Stapleton are actually married; though there was no explicit evidence of this connection, Holmes is willing to consider different explanations than simply the one they provide. Because he can imagine these possibilities, he is better able to deduce how various clues work together. Watson, on the other hand, is what Holmes call "a man of action." Though he is hardly a fool, he is less able to make imaginative leaps. For instance, when he observes Stapleton's intense opposition to a match between Sir Henry and Miss Stapleton, Watson acknowledges an oddity but does not consider seemingly bizarre possibilities, and hence does not discover what Holmes does.