Reiko Houshou is the main character of "The Dinner Table Detective." She is a secret heiress of a massive company group, but works as a rookie detective in a regular police station. Reiko hides her true identity while juggling her strong sense of justice for her job and her luxurious private life. Although often annoyed by her boss’s bad guesses and her butler’s sharp tongue, Reiko still relies on her butler’s detective skills, which help her solve cases no one else can.
Reiko wears simple suits and black-rimmed glasses at work to look like a serious detective. She chooses plain clothes to hide her wealthy background.
In private, she dresses like a true rich young lady, often choosing elegant one-piece dresses. She loves fashion, especially hats, and can spend a long time picking her outfits. Reiko is also fond of shopping and sometimes buys things she doesn’t actually need.
Reiko is very proud, stubborn, and doesn’t want to just follow her father’s wishes. She has a strong desire for independence, choosing to become a police officer rather than taking an easy job in her family’s business.
She tries hard to keep her rich background a secret at work, behaving properly and using polite language with people above her, while being casual with people her age or younger.
Although she tries to look calm, she’s often stressed by her boss Kyouichirou Kazamatsuri’s silly ideas and sometimes argues with him. When she is angry, her way of talking changes, and she becomes a lot more outspoken and even rough.
Reiko also vents her workplace frustration by being demanding toward her butler Kageyama at home. Still, she often ends up the target of his sharp words.
She is honest and pure, but sometimes cannot understand the dark parts of human nature, so she needs Kageyama’s advice to see what’s really happening in people’s hearts.
Reiko is the only daughter of Kiyotaro Houshou, the head of the Houshou Group. She graduated from a top university with excellent grades.
After graduation, Reiko refused to join her father’s business or focus on learning to be a good wife. Instead, she chose to work as a police officer, wanting to make her own path.
Her family, in the original story, only includes her father, but in the drama, her mother is also alive and her parents travel around the world.
Reiko is smart and serious about her work as a detective. She always wants to solve cases and never lets them go unsolved.
She has a high sense of fashion and a special talent for picking out stylish hats and outfits.
Even though she is often annoyed by Kageyama, she trusts his skills and always listens to his reasoning to solve tough cases.
Reiko must work closely with Kyouichirou Kazamatsuri, her boss, who doesn’t know her secret and often comes up with strange ideas. She gets frustrated with his behavior and refuses all his invitations for meals or drives. She does not want to ride in his beloved Jaguar car, even calling it something like an “excited animal” and making sure there are no such cars in her family garage.
Reiko relies on Kageyama, her sharp-tongued butler, for help in solving cases. Even though his words annoy her, she cannot fire him because he is simply the best at what he does.
She is not interested in lighthearted or shallow men, dislikes Kazamatsuri’s advances, and secretly feels jealous when younger colleagues get married.
Reiko is 24 years old.
When she gets angry, her way of speaking becomes rougher, and she will use phrases like "It's final, you're fired!"
She once made Kageyama wait in the car for eight hours while she was shopping.
She hates cigarette smoke and Kageyama’s harsh words.
Her strong pride shows even in small things, like refusing rides in certain cars.
"You're fired, absolutely fired!"
Living a Double Life
Reiko works as a police detective in the city of Kokuritsu. She hides her identity as the daughter of the famous Houshou family and tries to blend in with her coworkers.
She wears plain suits and glasses to look like a regular detective and makes sure no one at the police station finds out she is a rich heiress.
Challenges at Work
Reiko’s boss, Kyouichirou Kazamatsuri, is known for his wild and often wrong guesses during cases. Reiko tries to do her job seriously, but is often pulled into these silly ideas and must argue with him.
Her coworkers, who like Kazamatsuri, sometimes are even unfair to Reiko, blaming her for things that are not her fault.
Private Life and Her Butler
At home, Reiko lets out her stress and can be demanding, especially to her butler, Kageyama. However, Kageyama always tells her the hard truth with sharp words. When she discusses difficult cases with him, he uses his brilliant deduction skills to help her find the answers.
Even though she gets angry at his blunt comments and sometimes even threatens to fire him or throws things, she always relies on his support to solve the mysteries.
Solving Cases as Herself
When Reiko learns the solution to a case from Kageyama, she sometimes appears in front of suspects as her true self—the heiress Reiko Houshou. No one, not even those involved in the case, ever realizes she is also the detective they’ve met before.
Difficult Romance
Although Reiko was popular during university, she has no boyfriend now. She is annoyed by Kazamatsuri’s unwanted flirting and avoids personal outings with him, even if sometimes circumstances force her to be around him in emergencies.
She is reluctant to get too close to men in general, except for trusting Kageyama’s mind, not his personality.
Keeping Frustration Inside
Because Reiko finds work life tough and tries to hide her true self, she sometimes releases her frustrations in her private life, by shopping a lot or being extra picky about outfits. Sometimes she regrets buying things later.
Still, she stays true to her values and refuses to let cases remain unsolved, no matter how tough things get.
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