a shell game

(American)

a method of deceiving or cheating someone, by moving things from one place to another in order to hide what you are doing

Usage notes: A shell game is a game in which someone must guess which of three shells a ball or pea (= a small, round, green vegetable) is placed under when they are moved quickly around.

The thieves played a shell game with the police, constantly shifting the stolen goods. He owns many small businesses in different states as part of a shell game to save on taxes.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Sofia	zo-FEE-ah (German), so-FEE-ah (Italian), soo-FEE-ə (Portuguese), SO-fee-ah (Finnish)	Norwegian, Swedish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovak, Romanian
Izabel	-	Portuguese (Brazilian)
Sammi	SAM-ee	English (Rare)
Liudvika	-	Lithuanian
Dykes	[daiks]
Rosemary	ROZ-mə-ree	English