It c
Because my uncle told me that
He told me the answer
In Story A, since the room is more crowded, less people are going to notice that the person got caught stealing, therefore there is going to be less drama and the protagonist will not look as bad. Whereas in the second story, the people on the boat are most likely very tired and probably haven't eaten very much so they are more vulnerable to getting angry or should I say hangry, so the protagonist could be beaten or looked at very poorly in that setting.