a red herring

something that takes people's attention away from the main subject being talked or written about About halfway through the book it looked as though the butler was the murderer, but that turned out to be a red herring.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Alcott	['ɔ:lkət]
Helen	HEL-ən (English)	English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Jackson	JAK-sən	English
LesŁAw	LES-wahf	Polish
Aherne	[ə'hɜ:n]
Pemphero	pem-PAY-ro	Southern African, Chewa