Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) to decoy a potential victim away from the victim’s premises so that one’s accomplice can enter and rob them.

1812

Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 275: tow; or, towline To tow a person out; that is, from his premises, or post: is to decoy him therefrom by some fictitious story, or other artifice, while your pall seizes the opportunity of his absence, to rob the place he has imprudently quitted.