The General Hospital Plot Thickens: Nikolas Cassadine MURDERED????

The man who ordered a murder soon after The Nurses’ Ball last year seems to find himself a dead man the night of this years’ Ball.

Word has been out for weeks that Jason (Billy Miller) and Sam (Kelly Monaco) spot a body on the harbor rocks this month and it looks like that man will be Sam’s Cassadine cousin.

Tensions has been both brewing and simmering between Nikolas and Jason for ages, with Jason one-upping Nik in March when he re-claimed ELQ for the Quartermaines. With Nikolas left “broke” (by Cassadine standards), he’s now suing Jason–despite Jason wanted to end their feud.

It all begins when Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) lures Hayden (Rebecca Budig) head back to Wyndemere by promising to return her diamonds if she keeps his mouth shut about being the man who ordered the bullet into her head a year ago.

However, Jason also heads over to Wyndemere, both heartbroken and angered that ELQ’s assets are now frozen and he can’t hand the company back to Michael. Sam soon follows, but before she arrives, Jason hears breaking glass and decides to investigate.

On Friday, they see signs of a struggle in the bedroom, and according to the June 6 issue of Soap Opera Digest, they also spy a body on the rocks. When they get down there, the body is gone–but Nikolas’ cufflinks are not. Was Nikolas’ body washed away? Or, was Nikolas really dead at all?

Yesterday, Soap Hub reported that actor Tyler Christopher is taking a break from GH, but will be replaced by Nick Stabile. That doesn’t sound like a dead character to us. Instead, it sounds like a way to get an actor off the canvas for a while and return with a new face. It also seems like a perfect way to begin a new mystery figuring out what REALLY happened.

Of course, Jason is the prime suspect and Digest reports that things don’t look good when surveillance tapes surface. While Jason isn’t arrested–yet–he and Sam embark on an investigation into the truth, and with the Cassadines, one never really knows the truth.

Might the truth lead them to learn what really happened on Cassadine Island the years Jason and Jake were gone? Head Writers Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman offer a summer preview teaser in Digest that indicates something momentous will happen.

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“[Jason] and Sam decide to take matters into their own hands to solve the mystery and free Jason,” the writers said. “The journey they go on finds them pulled into an adventure with unlikely companions and far-reaching consequences.”

Might those companions include Laura? The writers also preview this longtime character following up on her own Cassadine mystery with Kevin along for the ride. The alleged death of her eldest son will surely send her into high gear.

So, as you can see, one man’s body on the rocks can mean many things. If it leads to a fictional Greek island, we can likely expect quite the “General Hospital” summer.