English candour avoided by detective showing upright nature (9)

I believe the answer is:

erectness

'upright nature' is the definition.

'english candour avoided by detective' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'candour' becomes 'directness'.
'avoided by' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'detective' becomes 'di' (Detective Inspector abbreviation).
'directness' with 'di' taken away is 'rectness'.
'e'+'rectness'='ERECTNESS'

'showing' is the link.

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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