The meaning of this sentence

Question

This is a sentence from the third chapter of the novel ちびまる子ちゃん１ (page 107):

まる子は、一度は止めた足をまた進め始めた。もう振り返らなかった。一目散に家を目指した。 こんなときに限って家に帰ってみるとなかったりするのだ。案の定、計画表はどこにも見当たらず、まる子は泣きながらまた学校まで走るのであった。

I cannot understand what the highlighted part is trying to say。The meaning of 限る I got from Jisho ("to restrict" ou "to be restricted to") does not seem to make sense here. Nor does the "trying to return" that follows it. And then you have "となかったりするのだ": why is the author using たり here?

What is the author trying to say?

Answer 1

• (こんな)時に限って literally means "limited to the time (like this)", but it's a set phrase that means "of all times" or "especially at times like this". It's used when something bad happens at the least convenient moment.

  急いでいる時に限って車が故障した。
  The car broke down of all times when I was in a hurry.

• 帰ってみる does not mean "to try to return". This is a very common mistake learners make. See: What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"?

• For this たり, see: Meaning of ーたりしない and What does 良いところだったりする mean in this sentence?

こんなときに限って家に帰ってみるとなかったりするのだ。

Of all times, it's when you're in such a situation that you can't find it after (trying) getting back home.
→ Especially at times like this, it often happens that you return home to find nothing.