How can I delete items in trash from an external hard drive?

I have a Macbook Pro and have installed Paragon so that I can use an external hard drive on both my Mac and my PC.  But some files I deleted from my external hard drive (Seagate 3TB) while on my Mac can't be deleted from the recycle bin.
When I try to delete, the files just stay there.  When I do a secure empty, a message comes up saying the files are in use.  This has persisted for two days.  I have restarted the Mac, reconnected the drive, and also cheked the drive on my PC for errors and found none.  Of course, the files only appear in the trash when the drive is connected.  I ejected the drive properly each time, and didn't just unplug it from the Mac.
I have tried to do a secure empty with option and/or shift keys down, but I still get a message that the files are in use.  I tried a fix involving writing a command including the term "trash" (I don't have the full command at my fingertips) in Terminal in the Utilities application, and this did not work.  There appears to be a program called "Trashit" which might help, but my computer says it will not open under my security settings because the author of the program is not listed.
The files remaining in trash are part of an old iTunes library that I wanted fully deleted from my external hard drive and my trash.  It was a big file (over 200GB) and about 99% deleted and empltied.  Reformatting the drive should not be necessary, might not help, and would probably erase the drivers on the drive and ruin it anyway.
I'm wondering what is happening, and how I could fix it.  Many thanks for any advice, in advance.

I actually fixed this by plugging the drive into my PC, changing the settings to "show hidden files and folders," then finding the folder ".trashes" on the drive and deleting everything in there.  When the drive was plugged back into the Mac, the trash was empty as it should be.  (It was a very large folder I deleted, and a very small portion of the files were apparently corrupted.)  In case anyone else ever needs this fix, it works.  Good luck.

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