Sentence:  But in the writing, I prudently had changed the plot away from all the <WSD>skulduggery</WSD> I knew about, or suspected, or had heard about. Not until later did I learn  that the <WSD>skulduggery</WSD> cooked up in my imagination was close to real-life <WSD>skulduggery</WSD> elsewhere. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Dishonest, underhanded, or unscrupulous activities or behaviour.