Driving along a country road, I pass Molly's house on the hill and see her car there. I proceed past and down to my house. When I arrive, I ask my wife, without preamble:

Did Molly stop off here?

Except for being secretive, there seems to be nothing amiss here, but had I asked

Has Molly stopped off here?

things go somehow wrong. The question is normal English, but it does not fit my (unspoken) history. It does not mesh with my experience of having seen her car at the top of the hill, and I would not ask the question in that way. Had I asked Has Molly stopped off here?, there would have been the unspoken meaning/circumstance that I had not seen her car.

If the story is altered so that I had not seen Molly's car, when I get to the house, I could reasonably ask my wife either

Did Molly stop off here?
Has Molly stopped off here?

Did Molly stop off here? permits either history, while Has Molly stopped off here? does not. Compare

Did Molly stop off here? ... I just saw her car at the top of the hill.
Has Molly stopped off here? ... I just saw her car at the top of the hill.

The second is unlikely to be uttered, but the first is quite possible.

What is the difference between Did ... stop and Has ... stopped so that they fit into my life experience the way that they do? Never having had explicit instruction in my learning of English, how do I nevertheless know what I know? No one told me. What do I know?