Final answer:
Arnold has written a defamatory letter about Bric and mailed it to him, but since he has not shown it to anyone else, this does not typically constitute defamation, which requires publication to a third party.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question addresses a scenario where Arnold wrote a defamatory letter about Bric and mailed it directly to Bric without showing it to anyone else. In the context of defamation law, for a claim to be viable, the tort of defamation typically requires that the defamatory statement is communicated to at least one person other than the person about whom the statement is made. Since Arnold did not show the letter to anyone besides Bric, he technically has not committed defamation in the public sense, although he has communicated a defamatory statement directly to Bric. However, without third-party publication, traditional defamation claims would not stand in most legal systems. This does not preclude Bric from seeking other possible legal remedies, but for a typical defamation claim, the element of publication to a third party is lacking.