I think you are correct about the net torque effect on the engine being zero, but it's not because the air comes out straight.
If you agree the net torque effect is zero than you'd be silly to think it not measurable (true, however, that it is not because of) by the air coming straight out of the jet. It would be analogous to agreeing lift can be measured by the air pushed down by the wing, but, at the same time, saying the net downwash does not match the net lift.
What you describe in both your case, and my analogy, is Newton's law. After the air has past through the system, the net effect on the air leaving that system (the engine or the wing) explains the net effect of the system. Otherwise the equal and opposite reaction Newton speaks of would not hold true.
I could certainly be missing something, but it seems to me you said the same thing Fish said, except you used different wording.
