Stereochemical dichloride treatment
Because of the absence of a lone pair, C undergoes usual $\mathrm{S_N2}$ transformation under the conditions. However, the availability of a lone pair in A undergoes the nucleophilic substitution of cyanide ion via neighboring-group participation (see above comments by Waylander and J. Deans) by the sulfur atom under the conditions (Ref.1). A very reliable mechanism is given in Ref.1 for the substitution of azide ion (work the same way for cyanide ion):



Reference:


D. D. Díaz, A. Converso, K. B. Sharpless, M. G. Finn, “2,6-Dichloro-9-thiabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane: Multigram Display of Azide and Cyanide Components on a Versatile Scaffold,” Molecules 2006, 11(4), 212–218 (doi: 10.3390/11040212).