Was Joe using silence to test the others, he wondered?

The teacher uses silence for multiple purposes in the Silent Way.

She used silence again, but again it failed to ruffle him.

She waited, using silence to draw him out.

But then one fine day she comes to know and shocked beyond disbelief, uses silence as her weapon to bring him to confess his situation.

Nobody had yet caught an Auld in a direct lie, but sometimes they used silence to mislead.

She had always used silence as a weapon in arguments and had found it an effective one against everyone from her mother to Gary.

No one who uses silence as effectively as you has to say much of anything.

The Warlock waited three seconds longer, using silence as an exclamation point.

He moved swiftly through the darkened trees, using stealth and silence to aid him in his flight.