Disturbing letters in papal bed: a malign influence? (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
bad apple
'disturbing letters' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'papal bed a malign influence?' is the wordplay.
'papal bed' can be anagrammed to 'BAD APPLE'.
However, I'm not sure how the anagram is indicated.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bad apple that I've seen before include "someone with a corrupting influence" , "it infects the rest" , "it'll infect the others" .)