(CNN) Salah Abdeslam , the only one of the suspected Paris attackers known to have survived, is still at large and still very much at the center of a mystery.

Nine days after the terror attacks that killed 130 people , a clearer picture is emerging of his movements, and it seems Abdeslam fled the city late on the night of November 13 in a state of panic.

Information from sources close to the investigation draw a picture of a man on the run and how that run began. On the evening of the attacks, Abdeslam, 26, was thought to have been the driver of a black Renault Clio that dropped off three suicide bombers near the Stade de France.

Then he drove 5 kilometers south; sources say he was probably en route when his older brother, Ibrahim, blew himself up at the Comptoir Voltaire café.

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Four days later, last Tuesday, the Clio was found abandoned in the Place Albert Kahn in Paris' 18th arrondissement. It appeared to have been parked hurriedly on a pedestrian crossing.

This is where the mystery begins. Was Abdeslam meant to carry out a separate attack? Or join the men who had already burst into the Bataclan theater ? Or return to Brussels , where he lived, to plan another attack?

Whatever the plan may have been, Abdeslam stayed under the radar for four hours amid the chaos enveloping the French capital, sources said. Then, at about 2 a.m, he allegedly made a call to acquaintances in the Belgian capital and asked them to collect him.

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Moroccan-born Mohammed Amri, 27, and Hamza Attou, 21, arrived in Paris at about 5 a.m. and picked up Abdeslam from the Barbes district, close to where he had abandoned his car.

They set out immediately on the return trip. But it was not without incident. The car was stopped by police close to Cambrai, which is near the Belgian border, and its occupants had their documents checked. But at that time -- around 9 a.m. -- French authorities had not established who might have carried out the attack, and the three men were allowed to continue to Brussels.

One source close to the investigation told CNN: "Police saw that one of them had a criminal record, but there was nothing to link them to the attacks."

Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects A Belgian soldier stands guard around a security perimeter as a reported police intervention takes place around the Grand Place central square in Brussels on Sunday, November 22. Multiple raids took place throughout Brussels, according to the Belgium Federal prosecutor, and 16 people were arrested. Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in Paris terror attacks, was not among them. Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Belgian police officers and soldiers secure an area as a reported police intervention takes place around the Grand Place central square in Brussels on November 22. Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Belgian national Ahmad Dahmani, center, suspected to be involved in the November 13 Paris attacks, was arrested late Friday, November 20, in southern Antalya province, Turkey. Dahmani had been tracked by a police anti-terror unit after he arrived at the Antalya International Airport -- on a flight from Paris -- the day after the massacre. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Two Syrian nationals, Ahmet Tahir, left, and Muhammed Verd, were arrested by Turkish security forces in southern Antalya province, Turkey, on November 20. They were captured, allegedly with a fake Syrian passport for Belgian national Ahmad Dahmani, suspected of location scouting for the Paris attackers. Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Police searched the home of Hasna Ait Boulahcen's mother in Aulnay-sous-Bois, France, on Thursday, November 19. Ait Boulahcen, 26, was killed during Wednesday's raid on an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, official sources in France told CNN. She did not blow herself up as was previously thought. Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects A body is removed from an apartment that was raided by police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France, on Wednesday, November 18. French special forces were looking for those behind the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. The hourslong ordeal ended with at least two suspects dead and eight detained. Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Authorities zeroed in on the Saint-Denis building after picking up phone conversations that a relative of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the attacks' purported ringleader, might be there. The Paris prosecutor's office later announced that Abaaoud's bullet-riddled body was found after the raid. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visits Saint-Denis during the raid on November 18. Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects A Renault Clio with Belgian license plates is towed by the police in Paris on Tuesday, November 17. The car is believed to have been rented by Salah Abdeslam. Authorities are looking for Abdeslam, a Belgium-born French national who is one of three brothers suspected in the terror attacks. Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Special forces stand guard on a roof in Molenbeek, a suburb of Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, November 16. Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Armed police guard a street in Brussels on November 16. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Salah Abdeslam's brother Mohammed speaks to the media at his house in Molenbeek on November 16. Mohamed Abdeslam was released by police after being detained over the weekend. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Special forces sit on a roof in Molenbeek as they prepare to enter a house on November 16. Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Armed police guard a street in Molenbeek on November 16. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects A man is detained by a police officer after a raid in the Mirail district of Toulouse, France, on November 16. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there were 150 police raids overnight in the country. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects Police officers overlook Paris as they patrol in front of the Sacre Coeur Basilica on November 16. Hide Caption 16 of 16

It was later that French police realized Abdeslam's alleged involvement -- probably after discovering another car he had rented which had three AK-47s in the trunk.

By then he had vanished. Amri and Attou were arrested after returning to Brussels and have since been charged with "complicity in terrorist attacks and participation in the activities of terrorist organizations."

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Adding to the mystery about Abdeslam's alleged role was an audio and video message from ISIS issued the morning after the attacks. It referred to "eight brothers" -- but only seven had been involved in the actual attacks, according to police. And it glorified their operations in 10th, 11th and 18th arrondissements -- except there had been no operation in the 18th arrondissement, where Abdeslam had allegedly parked.

One source familiar with investigators' thinking told CNN: "His movements make no sense. The way he dumped the vehicle, the hours that passed before he made a call to people who are now alleged conspirators, using the main autoroute (highway) to Belgium, it seems he lost control."

A brother of Abdeslam spoke to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF on Sunday, saying that he believes Abdeslam changed his mind at the last minute and might have decided not to go through with an attack.

"I do think that last minute he decided to reconsider. He probably saw or heard something that was not what he was expecting, and he decided not to go through with what he wanted to do. Let's remind everyone that today we are not aware of the elements of the investigation," Mohamed Abdeslam told the CNN affiliate.

The lawyers for Amri and Attou insist their clients had no knowledge of what Abdeslam was suspected of doing in Paris. Carine Couquelet, who represents Attou, said her client had found Abdeslam "extremely agitated and maybe ready to blow himself up."

Speaking with the French network LCI, Couquelet said Attou had mentioned Abdeslam carrying "a big jacket and other things, maybe something like an explosive belt or something like that."

But he had been calm at the checkpoints the three had to negotiate on their way back to Brussels, according to Attou's account.

Couquelet then asked the questions that are probably preoccupying French and Belgian investigators as they continue the search for Abdeslam.

"There are a few hypotheses to take into account: Was he part of the group [of terrorists]? Was he logistical support? Was he supposed to blow himself up? Was he supposed to do it and didn't have the courage to? We don't know."