Spades were found inside and returned (8)
I believe the answer is:
answered
'returned' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'spades were found inside and' is the wordplay.
'spades' becomes 's' (abbreviation in card games).
'found inside' is an insertion indicator.
's'+'were'='swere'
'swere' put into 'and' is 'ANSWERED'.
(Other definitions for answered that I've seen before include "Returned" , "Satisfied" , "Replied or responded" , "Rejoined" , "Sawn reed (anag.)" .)