Redwood Bureau: “THE PERFECT TREE” – Case File #025

Date: December 20, 2025
Host/Narrator: Agent Conroy (Josh Tomar)

Episode Overview

“THE PERFECT TREE” is a chilling case file from Agent Conroy, a whistleblower exposing the Redwood Bureau's secret investigations into supernatural threats. In this episode, Agent Conroy delivers a graphic and disturbing account of a family’s seemingly innocent outing to cut down a Christmas tree—an act that unleashes a horrific parasitic organism into their lives. The episode uses a narrative blend of holiday tradition and body horror to explore themes of danger hidden in the mundane, the unforeseen costs of small transgressions, and the dangers of disregarding rules set for our protection.

Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Holiday Traditions and Everyday Blind Spots

• [01:00] – [05:11]:
  Agent Conroy’s opening reflection explores how routines and traditions provide comfort, and how people convince themselves these familiar actions keep them safe.
  • “We subconsciously tell ourselves that routine is a kind of shield. That if we follow the recipe and keep the calendar, nothing truly bad can reach us... The truth is uglier.”
  • Warns that disaster can arise quietly from ordinary, reasonable choices.

2. The Outing for the “Perfect” Christmas Tree

• [05:11] – [12:24]:
  The story switches to a father’s perspective, narrating a family trip to a tree farm. Dissatisfied with the neat, orderly trees near the parking lot, the father insists on continuing further, seeking a unique memory.

  • They ignore signs:
    • “NO CUTTING BEYOND THIS POINT. NO TRESPASSING. PRIVATE PROPERTY.”
  • The “perfect” tree stands just past the forbidden line.

• [09:26] – [12:24]:
  The father, against his wife’s warnings and after crossing the line alone, notices odd characteristics:

  • The tree is resistant to cutting, exudes unusual, sticky sap and faint, sweet odor.
  • “The first pull stuck instead of that dry rasp… The wood under the bark wasn't the warm tan color I expected. It was paler, almost grayish and damp.”

3. Bringing the Tree Home – The First Signs

• [15:33] – [18:25]:
  The family wrestles the tree home. The process is physically taxing and leaves sap on the father’s skin.
  • The tree exudes a pungent, almost medicinal odor that grows stronger inside the house.
  • The father begins to feel an odd ache and warmth from the tree.
    • [18:25]: “While it was quiet...the bark under my palm was warm. Not just room temperature warm. Warmer than the wall, warmer than the air. My stomach gave a slow, dull throb.”

4. The Sickness Sets In

• [20:34] – [28:18]:
  Overnight, the entire family starts to feel ill—fever, aches, and a growing sense of malaise.

  • Water in the tree stand turns cloudy and foul-smelling.

  • The father's abdominal pain worsens; a bruise begins to spread.

    • [23:13]: “It's a bug, I said. Cold doesn't do this. We just hit bad timing.”
    • [23:24], wife: “If we're not better tomorrow, I'm calling the doctor. I don't care if they put us on hold for an hour. This isn't worth it.”

  • With a blizzard outside, they are trapped and too weak to travel for help.

5. Nightmarish Transformation

• [31:35] – [46:31]:
  The horror intensifies as the father awakens to find his family around him, all looking gaunt and sickly.

  • A surgical incision has appeared on his stomach—without bleeding.

  • His wife, seemingly possessed, reaches inside him, performing ghastly acts. The children, similarly afflicted, join in.

    • [38:00, father]: “She put her hand inside me up to her knuckles. It didn't feel… not a sharp stab, more like a deep, blunt pressure... When she curled her fingers, something inside of me gave with a wet snap and my vision went grainy.”

  • The process becomes grotesque: wounds are made, coated in resinous saliva, and organs are removed and exchanged among family members.

    • [46:28, wife]: “I'm trying, but I can't.”
    • Brief lucid moments highlight their horror at their own actions, but their bodies are controlled by the parasite.

6. The Fatal End

• [47:00] – [50:11]:
  One by one, the family members succumb. Parasitic, worm-like entities emerge from their bodies and enter the surviving father, completing his transformation into a new host.
  • [50:03, father]: “Lying there with my family collapsed around me and on me, I couldn't move or fight…I had wanted to do something my family would never forget.”

7. Aftermath and Analysis

• [50:11] – [53:52]:
  Agent Conroy recounts the Bureau’s intervention:
  • The team finds the father’s body grotesquely transformed—a mass of tissue and parasite.
  • They euthanize him for mercy, collect a minimal biological sample, and incinerate the remains and the house to erase evidence.
  • Their analysis:
    • The “tree” is a parasite that survives winter by mimicking a tree, infecting through contact. Inside a heated home, it manipulates hosts into creating a composite body optimal for its reproduction.
    • The infection spreads quickly—multiple families are later wiped out after inadvertent exposure at the tree lot.
    • The Bureau eradicates all suspicious trees in the area via thermal scans and controlled burns.
  • [52:45, Conroy]: “Lines, signs and rules exist for reasons you may never understand or agree with. Sometimes the best choice is the boring one. Even on Christmas.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:00, Conroy]: “People like to believe disaster has rules, that it only happens to the reckless or the stupid or the uniquely unlucky. It's a comforting myth because it means you can earn safety by being careful. The truth is uglier.”

• [12:24, Father’s Wife, calling from a distance]: “You alright?”
  [12:26, Father]: “Yeah, Tree’s a fighter.”

• [15:34, Father’s Wife]: “Happy?”
  [15:34, Father]: “Yeah...They’ll remember this one.”

• [23:24, Father's Wife]: “If we're not better tomorrow, I'm calling the doctor. …This isn't worth it.”

• [38:00, Father's narration]: "She put her hand inside me up to her knuckles. …Her lips trembled. Then her gaze slipped out of focus, like someone had reached in and turned her off from the inside."

• [46:31, Father's wife, lucid moment]: "I'm trying, but I can't."

• [52:45, Agent Conroy]: “Lines, signs and rules exist for reasons you may never understand or agree with. Sometimes the best choice is the boring one. Even on Christmas.”

Important Timestamps

• [05:11] – The family arrives at the tree farm.
• [09:26] – They decide to cross the forbidden line.
• [15:33] – The family brings the tree home; ominous signs.
• [20:34] – Family falls ill.
• [23:24] – Symptoms intensify; family too sick to seek help.
• [31:35] – Father’s waking nightmare; the transformation begins.
• [38:00] – The mutilation and horror reach their peak.
• [46:31] – Wife’s fleeting moment of clarity.
• [50:11] – Agent Conroy describes the aftermath and Bureau intervention.
• [52:45] – Episode’s final warning and moral.

Tone & Language

• The episode maintains a somber, introspective, and deeply unsettling tone, with language blending the intimacy of family interactions and graphic horror.
• Agent Conroy is methodical and grave, while the father’s narration is heartbreakingly personal, sliding from everyday optimism to abject terror.

Takeaways

• The episode is a powerful meditation on the unforeseen horror that can sprout from innocent choices and our collective urge to disregard warnings for the sake of tradition or nostalgia.
• Agent Conroy’s final words reinforce the importance of respecting boundaries and rules, especially when their purpose isn’t clear.
• The Redwood Bureau’s shadowy presence hovers behind the horror—the case serves as both cautionary tale and a rebuke to the indifferent approach of the Bureau to human suffering.

Caution

• Content Warning: This episode, true to Agent Conroy’s opening, is particularly graphic and may be disturbing for many listeners.