Alix’s bumblebee pendant is one of the first things that Josie notices about her in the Lansdowne. As the narrative states, “And there in the middle of it all is Alix Summer with her big smile and her big teeth, her hair that catches the light, her simple gold chain with something hanging from it that skims her gleaming collarbones whenever she moves” (13-14). To Josie, the pendant is a part of Alix’s confident, charismatic persona, and from that moment on, she covets the pendant, a golden bumblebee, which symbolizes Alix’s seemingly golden life.

The origins of the pendant and the significance of the bumblebee to Alix are never clarified, but it is enough to know that the pendant is deeply meaningful to Alix. She wears it every day, and in times of stress or anxiety, “Alix’s fingertips clutch her golden bee pendant and slide it back and forth along the chain” (47). When the police find items from Alix’s house in Josie’s underwear drawer, the pendant is not there. When Alix asks the police to look for it, this is the first time the narrative reveals that it has been lost—with every other item Josie takes, the reader witnesses the theft.