"Before turning in for bed, Erni would insist that her chest was far too valuable to leave out unattended in a bedroom with minimal security.
Instead, she would demand that the innkeeper store her chest in their best, most secure room, perhaps even one that held valuables of their own.
Innkeeper after hapless innkeeper fell for Erni’s tale, squirreling away the hefty trunk into a room that contained their own precious possessions, Greene writes.
They would leave the room—which, of course, had no other exits—lock the door from the outside, and go to bed."
Full article at Atlas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-was-barbara-erni-grifter