The final thread of civility snapped. A heated, whispered argument between two remaining Council members escalated with shocking speed. One accused the other of heresy, of harboring a secret appreciation for the ’corruption’ of art. The denial was met with a contemptuous gesture, and then, the unthinkable happened. A fist flew. The sound of the blow, a wet, fleshy thud, was an obscenity in the sacred silence of the chamber. It was followed by a strangled gasp, then the sound of a body hitting the floor. The silence was broken, not by a word, but by an act of brute violence. The Gospel of Silence had failed its most devout adherents.