Watson is important as a narrator for several reasons. First, as an intelligent man who can nevertheless come nowhere close to replicating Holmes's method, he provides even the clever reader a lens through which to appreciate Holmes's singular genius. Furthermore, Holmes remains distant and mysterious largely because he does not narrate his own tales. Holmes only shares his final process with Watson, which keeps many particulars of his imaginative method attractively ambiguous. Finally, in this novel in particular, Doyle is able to explore the case in two literal ways at once, by having Watson travel to Devonshire alone even while Holmes is secretly working in the background.