Argentine mastiffs

The Argentine mastiffs are a concealed pack of prohibited dogs bred by Fidel Lae for clandestine sale, and their enclosure becomes the setting for two pivotal acts of violence. First Sonny Lofthus locks Fidel inside an empty cage; later Sonny brings Hugo Nestor to the same place and puts him within reach of the dogs. The pack is both a criminal commodity and a force that changes the balance between captor and captive.

Breeding and Concealment

Fidel’s farm presents a respectable face: he breeds registered Dobermann pinschers, sells their puppies, and keeps the business documented through microchips, insurance, and pedigree registration. The Argentine mastiffs belong to a different operation, hidden farther into the woods. Two females and one male are unregistered; their albino-white coats and reputation for aggression account for Fidel’s names for them: Ghost Machine, Holy Ghost, and Ghostbuster. He calls the group the Argentine ghosts, and moves their enclosure still deeper into the forest so their barking will not carry to the farm.

The dogs’ rarity and their killer instinct support a high price: Fidel asks 120,000 kroner for a puppy. The breed is banned in Norway and several other countries, but his customers’ willingness to pay and disregard for the law make the business profitable. Secrecy is built into its geography: the enclosure lies beyond the public-facing kennel, where the dogs cannot readily be heard or seen.

The Pack and Its Keeper

The Argentine mastiffs are described as weighing around fifty-five kilos, with short white coats and a reputation for aggression and loyalty. They are kept in imported German cages with metal floors and corrugated-iron roofs, designed to prevent digging out or jumping over the fence. When Fidel and a customer approach, the dogs hurl themselves at the wire; Fidel knows how deeply the posts are buried, but can only hope the fence will hold. He carries a Mauser when visiting them, explaining that he never goes without it in case a dog gets loose.

Fidel warns that the dogs are most dangerous as a pack, when they follow Ghostbuster, the largest male. Even their owner does not claim easy mastery: he feels safest with one dog at a time, preferably a female. His advice to the customer about establishing dominance over a puppy quickly, and punishing unwanted behavior rather than indulging it, echoes the coercive logic that governs the wider criminal world. The customer repeats Fidel’s phrase that punishing undesirable behavior is his job, turning a lesson in dog training into a statement of menace.

Fidel Trapped in the Enclosure

Sonny Lofthus turns Fidel’s own arrangements against him. Before Fidel can bring the rifle into position, Sonny restrains him, throws him to the ground, and points a gun at him. He then takes Fidel’s keys, wallet, and mobile phone and locks him inside an empty cage beside Ghostbuster. Sonny leaves water and four boxes of raw dog food in the cage, but gives Fidel no way out. The dogs’ barking answers Fidel’s screams; the enclosure is so remote that nobody is likely to hear him.

The reversal is precise: the man who controlled access to the dangerous animals becomes their captive, while Sonny departs with the means of controlling the gate. The dogs do not need to attack Fidel for their presence to make the confinement threatening. Their isolation and strength are enough to transform his carefully managed kennel into a trap.

Nestor’s Death and Narrative Role

Sonny later brings Hugo Nestor, bound and concealed in a wheeled case, to the marshland enclosure. Nestor recognizes the dogs by their short, choppy barking before he understands where he has been taken. Fidel, still confined nearby, sees Sonny unlock the gate and push Nestor inside. Ghostbuster moves first; the pack then attacks, and Nestor’s scream is cut short. Sonny turns away, as does Fidel, leaving the captive kennel owner as a witness to the killing.

The enclosure thus shifts from a hidden business site to the instrument of Nestor’s death. Its distance from the farm, which had protected Fidel’s illegal trade from discovery, also makes it an isolated place where Sonny can impose his own judgment beyond ordinary legal process. The dogs are not merely background danger: their ownership, containment, and pack behavior shape the events, first giving Sonny leverage over Fidel and then making the same hidden space the scene of Nestor’s killing.