Evidentiality and intensionality: Two uses of reportative constructions in discourse

If the standard intensional use of say was at issue here, B’s utterance would not count as an answer to A’s question. It is not plausible that John is absent from the meeting because Sharon said that he was out of town; rather, what B is suggesting is that John is probably absent because he is out of town. The information that Sharon said what she did serves an evidential purpose: to support the claim that B is making.