No-good lawyers

ed blake, a young conveyancing lawyer, joins the firm of mckerr and chetty but soon discovers things about the business which cause him some concern. firstly, mckerr is utterly disrespectful of his staff, then the young bookkeeper, tim, confides in blake that he is uncomfortable about things he is asked to do including sending large sums of money to an overseas account. then there are strange calls from disgruntled clients, all keen to contact mckerr but who now avoids them. blake then discovers several files which clearly indicate that the firm has been knowingly engaged in mortgage fraud on behalf of mckerr's dishonest associates. however, when the police are informed, they say that they can find on evidence to support blake's claim and warn him off. blake now understands that mckerr has recruited bent cops to protect him. then one day, tim is found dead. blake believes that he was killed by mckerr as the lad had questioned his boss on the money transfers and the fraudulent mortgages. mckerr also thinks that the exposure of activities is all due to blake, so decides to frame him on trumped-up theft charges. and he very neatly succeeds. but blake is made of tougher stuff and he, together with tim's mother and blake's faithful staff, have been collecting evidence that will put mckerr behind bars for a very long time. but mckerr's former associates want their cash back. and who is the strange old man who appears to be watching their house?