Howard, David, and Joey were not hardened delinquents, she had told him, and she could not see their arrest, trial, and imprisonment as the solution to anything. True, they had substituted gang loyalty for the love and security they were denied. . . but boys who worked at after-school jobs and turned every cent in at home were hardly beyond recall, were they? And she had told him just where each boy worked, and at what.
—"Object Lesson,"
Ellery Queen
Which word best describes the tone expressed in this passage?
frustration
passion
boredom
excitement