Al Engel had worked his way up to being Nick Rovito’s right-hand man, near the top of the Syndicate. And this was a delicate job that Rovito had given him: retrieving a very important jacket, loaded with heroin, from the fresh grave of the drug mule who was accidentally buried wearing it.

Rovito orders Engel to go to the grave in the early hours of the morning, dig up the coffin, and get back the suit—plus kill two bird with one stone (so to speak) and whack the guy who will help with the digging. There’s just one problem (at least there’s just one to begin with): It turns out the grave is empty. Now it’s Engel who finds himself “in deep”.

Busy Body is early Westlake, as he was mastering the genre he would become known for: the comic caper.