Okay: it comes from “Exchequer”, the department of Royal Revenues, so called because money counters were arranged on a cloth marked in squares like a chessboard (French eschequier, a chessboard). From there, a counter representing money was called a “cheque”.
It refers to the famous clock of the original building, which has two foxes on the clock face. The clock is to be preserved in the Plaza (see October 27 strip).
Probably two. Pranksters know no taboos. It was in the middle of the night, so the bathrooms were likely empty anyway. A quick recce would establish that.
For the strip? In the absence of ongoing storylines, I make up my own. I have one where John gets a promotion that involves moving to another state. But they have to adopt Loca in order to take her with them. And what state? Maybe Hawaii. That would be fun. And it’s a Democratic state with very low gun violence.
She decided not to, on condition they gave her $15,000 in the next 90 days (Feb 6). They had a yard sale (March 2). Guess they scraped it together. Hope they got it in writing.
Eye roll.