an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade
<noun.cognition> his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track
Stratagem \Strat"a*gem\, n. [F. stratag[`e]me (cf. Sp. estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. ?, fr. ? to be leader of an army, fr. ? a general; ? an army (probably as being spread out; cf. {Stratum}) + ? to lead. See {Agent}.] An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination.
Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak.
Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. --Pope.
And there has always been a sound stratagem among prosecutors to include the minor miscreants in a fraud trial.
I am reminded of an old stratagem: If you can convince your audience that two plus two equal five, you may proceed with impunity to prove any number of equations based on that premise.