The criminal in charge, showing set of morals (5)
I believe the answer is:
ethic
'set of morals' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'the criminal in charge' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'eth' which is within the answer.
'in charge' could be 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge') and 'ic' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'showing' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ethic that I've seen before include "type of behaviour" , "Moral rule" , "Set of moral principles" , "Moral system" , "An unusual factor in morals" .)