what does "said so"mean? what exactly did she say?
Outside Parkland, Theron Ward added his tan Buick coupe to the tangled junkyard. He might as well have arrived in a tumbrel. He was on his way to an execution of sorts. A justice of the peace cou make no peace between the militants in Major Medicine; he could only mangle his own reputation. Ward was nearly saved from his fate—at the entrance he introduced himself to a Secret Service man as "the JP" and was promptly ejected. The misunderstanding arose from his title. On the Eastern seaboard a JP was a minor functionary, a rung or two above a notary public. In Texas he was an elected magistrate, with a courtroom and a daily docket. Judge Ward was accustomed to a more dignified reception, and when he presented himself at another entrance he got it, from a nurse who led him to the nurse's station. She knew about the battle there. She looked grateful to see him and said so, which was the last kind word he was to hear for some time.