Incidentally the above-mentioned novel that Simon Templar supposedly wrote is titled The Pirate and features a non-anglo super-brigand/hero named Mario. Charteris in his early years wrote a novel, The Bandit, which also features  a non-anglo super-brigand/hero.
In order to come up with the money, Templar and his girlfriend, Patricia Holm, hatch a scheme to capture a blackmailer known as The Scorpion whose exploits have already led to a murder and several suicides. Templar's plan is complicated by a promise made to Inspector Claud Eustace Teal that he won't kill the villain this time.