Only yesterday, the word began circulating that David Canary was leaving 'All My Children,' exiting the soap after 27 years. He was saying goodbye to the dual role of Adam and Stuart Chandler, a part that had been very good to him, earning him five Daytime Emmy awards.

Today, ABC sent out a press release and issued the official story. David Canary was decided to retire from 'All My Children.' He will stop shooting in March, but will still be seen on the show through April 2010. And with David's departure, the character of Adam Chandler will be checking out, too. There will be a power struggle in Chandler Industries caused by his absence, likely with JR, Scott and Annie going at it.

After weeks of hype, scoops and spoilers, message board fodder and threats against columnists to not reveal a thing lest they be flogged and embargoed out of the business, All My Children's big murder mystery kicked into high gear when it turned out that the victim was not really one of the characters on the cover of Soap Opera Digest.

For the network, all this was great. ABC Daytime got a bump in the Nielsens and it seems the post-murder intrigue, i.e. whodunit, is keeping viewers DVR'ing, Soapnet watching, or just planning on watching during their lunch hours (like the old days). But getting back to the victim, AMC had a chance to do something really bold and dramatic. Instead head writer Chuck Pratt Jr. played it safe. More on the victim, including the name in case you don't know by now (yes, that's a warning), after the jump.