(n) :
a smoke-cured herring; a clue that is
misleading or that has been falsified, intended to divert attention (from the use of smoked herrings to mislead hounds following a trail)
""Gall, the guy that does the hyp act is too
shrewd, I think, to have
committed such a smart murder and left himself
with his pants down with no other red herring around." --Svengali Kill"