Some random thoughts this morning:
Presumably Ariel had no idea when he knocked on his friends door that his friend had gone to daycare for the entire day. For all he knew his friend was gone with his parents to run an errand and would be back soon or even hadnt heard the knock since there was a sign posted outside saying that the doorbell was broken. Would Ariel have decided to wait a bit at the park and go back to the friends house a little later to see if he was back? Thus another trip to and from the friends house?
Why wouldnt he go home if he realized that he couldnt see his friend? I can understand him maybe detouring through the park on the way home but its the sighting at 2 pm that I cant understand. He lives just minutes away but he wasted at least two+ hours at this park. It was a warmer day than it is now (probably around 3-5 Celsius at the time) but its still Montreal in winter and unless there was something really fun to do there I dont see why he wouldnt head to his warm home where he had food, drink and access to tv and possibly also his video games since it was still technically spring break. Was he locked out of his home? Was he told by the houseguests not to return until a certain time? The houseguests have children around the same age who he played well with. Wouldnt he want to go home and play with them? Or ask them to come back to the park with him if he really wanted to play there?
An attraction that he may have detoured to was the Maison des jeunes. I wonder if it was open that day given that all the other schools were back in session. The youth centre was quick to put out a statement that he never frequented the place as it was only open to older teenagers.
https://m.facebook.com/maisondesjeunes.bordeauxcartierville
The authorities are saying possibly the shopping mall. I can understand maybe that as it would bring him out of the cold but was he actually carrying money to purchase any food for lunch or anything? And then did he walk back to the park ( past his own house) to be seen at the park at 2pm??
My mind is on overdrive with this one. While it appears pretty clear cut there are some things that dont make sense.