Short stories I read once many years ago

Realriki

Cadet
I borrowed a library book once in the late 80s or early 90s which i think was a mixture of short stories from different sci fi authors. the story i am particularly interested in is about a machine that can plant evidence to frame someone (like hairs and dna and fingerprints) and disguise itself as everyday appliances if someone interrupts it (like a radio or a tv). I am pretty sure it was a short story. I can't remember much about the plot, except that the story started (I think) with the machine crawling up a wall to get into some guy's apartment and then starts planting the evidence. The idea behind the story fascinates me and I wish I could find it so I could read it again.

Another short story I once read that stayed with me in the same vague way, was about a guy who is in his apartment one day when a portal opens and he gets encouraged by himself (who has just come through a portal) to go through the portal. Then, before he goes through, another of himself, but more harassed looking, comes through a portal and tells him not to go. I think the story then takes us on the trip through the portal, as he decides to go rather than listen to himself (the second himself, in fact, his other selves may have had an argument about whether he should go!) once again, very vague memories but strongly retained so that I would like to find these stories and read them again.
 
Actually, I just did a search on Internet for the second story (I had tried searching for the first one and found nothing) and think that one is By His Bootstraps by Robert A Heinlein. Still interested in the first one. Memory is a strange thing and not overly accurate...
 
Sounds like something Asimov would have written, but I don't know for sure. I'm surprised they would have been planting DNA back in stories from the 70s or 80s...
 
Sounds like something Asimov would have written, but I don't know for sure. I'm surprised they would have been planting DNA back in stories from the 70s or 80s...

Well, I think of it as DNA, but I think it was like hairs, fingernail clippings, and maybe fingerprints and a scrap of material, and made the room look like there had been a struggle (furniture overturned) that sort of thing. As I said, my memory is very vague and I could be remembering the general gist and filling in the blanks myself. You could be right about Asimov though. I know I did read some of his stuff. Thanks for the input. I see my memory of the other story was a bit off as well, it was the guy in the apartment who argued with his other self from the portal and didn't want to go, in the beginning.
 
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