The German police inspector, note (3)
I believe the answer is:
die
'the german' is the definition.
('the' in German)
'police inspector note' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'inspector' could be 'di' (abbreviation for Detective Inspector) and 'di' is found within the answer.
'note' could be 'e' (musical note) and 'e' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for die that I've seen before include "It may be used in a game" , "Depart with engraved stamp" , "Cease to live" , "Mould; become extinct" , "On stage, suffer" .)