Pads, we're told, for noted detective (6)
I believe the answer is:
holmes
'noted detective' is the definition.
(Sherlock Holmes, famous fictional detective)
'pads we're told' is the wordplay.
'pads' becomes 'homes' (pad can informally mean a residence).
'we're told' shows a homophone (sound like).
'homes' is a homophone of 'HOLMES'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for holmes that I've seen before include "See 1 down" , "Conan Doyle's creation" , "Two-hundred-and-twenty-one-b Baker Street resident" , "Sherlock ......, sleuth" , "Champion solver" .)