 Freeness criterion for a subgroup of a polygon-cover deck group

In the paired-polygon construction of finite surface covers, a subgroup $U$ acts freely precisely when the displayed intersection is trivial for every vertex word $C_j$ and every $g\in T$. The quotient map $M\to U\backslash M$ is then a normal covering map with deck group $U$ and $\chi (U\backslash M)=\chi (M)/|U|$. Normality of $U$ in $T$ is instead the criterion for the intermediate orbifold cover $U\backslash M\to T\backslash M$ to be normal. These are different covering maps.