General Hospital spoilers tease that Someone killed Ava Jerome’s (Maura West) most recent bed buddy, Austin Gatlin Holt (Roger Howarth), and sent her a shocking photo of a dead Austin lying on the floor.
Along with the photo was a frightening message that said, “You’re welcome.” It sounds very much like something Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom) would do.
Ryan and Ava’s Complicated and Tragic History
Ava and Ryan have a tragic and convoluted past. Ever since he first encountered Ava and thought she was Felicia Scorpio (Kristen Wagner), Ryan has been consumed by an obsession.
Ryan believed that by killing Ava’s daughter, Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin), he could have closer access to her. Ryan killing Austin wouldn’t be out of character in the slightest.
Ryan wouldn’t meet Austin for the first time after his murder. Wyndemere was the location of Ryan, Heather Webber (Alley Mills), and Esme Prince (Avery Kristen Pohl)’s escape from Spring Ridge. After he got in the way, Heather wound up stabbing Austin with the hook.
Ryan Chamberlain was supposedly killed by Mac Scorpio (John J. York), who shot Ryan to save Ava in the nick of time. Ryan’s twin brother, Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom), arrived on the scene. He told a seemingly dead Ryan that he hoped he would now find peace, said goodbye, and zipped up the body bag.
But what if Ryan isn’t really dead? Ryan is undoubtedly duplicitous enough to fake his death. He faked locked-in syndrome for two years or more. He is very clever and calculated. There have been other characters who faked not having a pulse. Why wouldn’t the dastardly Ryan?
Ryan’s Obsession with Ava
Ryan could have decided to kill Austin due to his obsession with Ava. He may have been stalking her and hiding in the gallery when Ava read Austin the riot act for lying to her about Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober) and keeping the truth about Nikolas Cassadine being alive (Adam Huss) from her.
Ryan likely also knew Ava and Austin hooked up and was jealous. When he heard Ava scream at Austin, he was proud of her, just as he was proud of Ava for “killing” Nikolas.
Ryan may also not have liked that Austin was responsible for saving Nikolas’s life and bringing him to Pautuck to recover from his head injury.
In Ryan’s deranged mind, he was doing a favor for Ava. He heard that Austin betrayed her, and he needed to be dealt with. He saw Austin as the ultimate triple threat.
It would be very Ryan’s style and the ideal crime. For Ryan, scaring Ava with a picture would be the cherry on top. Even while he “loved” his Ava, he also enjoyed frightening the living daylights out of her.
Since everyone believes Ryan is dead, nobody would guess he killed Austin. Nobody else knows that Ryan is alive except Ava. However, she destroyed the note and the photo in the fireplace rather than handing them over to the authorities. The proof might have been the very thing that kept her alive.