The tough was close after him.
Passing through a long, dark hall, he made an exit through a door opening on Canal Street.
The tough, apparently, did not come out of the building.
The man who did follow Yasmar out onto Canal Street looked more like a laborer than he did like a tough.
The Westerner, walking leisurely, made his way to the next block and halted in front of a four-story building.
There was a moving van backed to the curb in front, and at the very top of the building two men were engaged in rigging a block and tackle.
Yasmar came to a halt before a door leading into a hallway, and from there, for the first time, he took a survey of the street behind him.
The laborer, his hands in his pockets and a corncob pipe in his mouth, was watching the riggers at work on the roof.
There was nothing suspicious about the laborer, and Yasmar passed into the building and started upstairs.
When he reached the head of the first flight, the laborer was in the doorway.