Things continue to go bad for Eddie as he discovers that Jean has never really loved him and is in fact in love with Lloyd. Subsequently, after speculating in the stock market, Eddie's bootlegging empire crumbles in the 1929 crash. He is forced to sell his cab company to George at a price far below its value. George mockingly leaves Eddie one cab for himself, correctly foreseeing that Eddie will soon have fallen so low that he'll be back to being a mere cab driver.